Mother and Baby 



Anne B. Newton M.D. 






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Class _Z_/ 

Book j 

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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



MOTHER AND BABY 

HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING 

MOTHERHOOD AND THE 

CARE OF CHILDREN 




MOTHER AND BABY. 



MOTHER AND BABY 

HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING 

MOTHERHOOD AND THE 

CARE OF CHILDREN 



ANNE b/nEWTON, M.D. 



Illustrated from Photographs Chosen by the Author 




BOSTON 
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 



Published, August, 1912 



«P 






^^ 



Copyright, 1912, by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 

All rights reserved 



Mother and Baby 



Tlorwooo press 

BERWICK & SMITH CO. 

NORWOOD, MASS. 
U. S A. 



£aA3l92l9 



PREFACE 

The excuse — if one is needed — for add- 
ing one more book on this subject to the 
great number already in the market is that 
it contains a few simple and easily under- 
stood suggestions for mothers on the care 
of children, more stress being laid on the 
every-day, commonplace requirements than 
is usually the case. This little book makes 
no pretensions, nor is it an exhaustive 
treatise ; its one aim is to attract attention 
to these things, and to give the reason for 
doing them. 

In spite of the fact that books and mag- 
azine articles are constantly appearing, 
each conveying advice and theories, there 
is no need to fear that the subject will be 
exhausted, and it is impossible to crowd 
everything into one book. Living is be- 
coming so complex that the ideas of two 
decades ago — if not antiquated — no longer 
answer the requirements. To many, much 



VI PREFACE 

that is here said may have been heretofore 
considered unnecessary, and to others, 
possibly, the ideas have never occurred. 

Although this is written by a physician, 
it is not intended in any way to take the 
place of a doctor's advice. On the other 
hand, it is hoped that the necessity for 
selecting a physician and following his ad- 
vice before the child is born is made appar- 
ent. The author feels quite sure that the 
suggestions here offered will not prove con- 
trary to the advice or judgment of any 
regular physician, for what is here put 
forth for mothers and the care of their 
babies consists of simply the ordinary reg- 
ulations for hygienic living. The sugges- 
tions for the requirements of the nurse, 
and for the care of older children are the 
result of years of experience. 

Believing firmly that preventive medi- 
cine is a higher art than curative medicine, 
more attention is given in these chapters 
to the keeping the baby well than to the 
treatment of the sick baby. Only the sim- 
plest rules for treating the sick child, and 
descriptions of the commoner ills which are 
met with are here given. 



PREFACE Vll 

Nothing is said about tuberculosis, men- 
ingitis, and many other diseases for the 
simple reason that nothing can be told to 
the laity which will be of any reasonable 
service, excepting the suggestions and rules 
which hold good for the nursing in any 
illness. 

Anne B. Newton, M. D. 

South Orange, N. J. 
May, 1912. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Preface ix 

I Counsel to Mothers 1 

II Care of the New Baby 34 

III Clothing and Care of Baby 55 

IV Food for the Baby . 72 

V Baths of the Baby 190 

VI Habits of the Baby 125 

VII The Nursery and the Nurse 145 

VIII Growth and Development 166 

IX The Sick Baby 171 

X The Sick Baby (Continued) 182 

XI Remedies for External Use, and Dietary . 228 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

"Mother and Baby" .... Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

The proper way to lift a small baby is to hold it 
by the feet, and support the back and head 
with the other hand 42 

Support the head and back firmly with one 

hand while bathing the baby hi the tub . 112 

Even the old-fashioned cradle had a satisfactory 
hood, which protected the baby from the 
wind and too strong light 132 S 

A very satisfactory method of weighing the 
baby is to place it in a basket which rests 
securely on the scales 166 ^ 



MOTHER AND BABY 

CHAPTER I 
COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 

Perhaps the author may be pardoned for 
beginning this chapter of advice to mothers 
by including in the first few sentences the 
fathers also. In all the books on this sub- 
ject the father's responsibility is entirely 
ignored. One might imagine his role per- 
fectly insignificant, and that attention to 
the financial side was all that could be 
expected of him. 

Much has been said, though, about the 
necessity for cheerfulness and hopefulness, 
etc., on the mother's part; in other words 
it is assumed that her mental attitude has 
a marked influence on the disposition of 
the child. This is undoubtedly true, but 
the father has great obligations, too, and 
his mental attitude also makes a great dif- 
1 



I MOTHER AND BABY 

ference to both mother and child. The 
highest degree of perfection for children 
is only reached by having both parents hold 
high standards for themselves — moral as 
well as physical. Of course, people gener- 
ally appreciate that a man afflicted with 
tuberculosis or any chronic malady of a 
grave nature is apt to have children physic- 
ally below normal, but the majority appar- 
ently forget that many other failings not 
quite so pronounced as the above mentioned 
are transmitted to the children by the 
fathers, and that not only the child's phys- 
ical condition, but his mental and moral 
structure depends largely upon his pa- 
ternal inheritance. 

This line of thought could be carried out 
indefinitely, but as this book is primarily 
intended for the mother, one instance only 
will be cited, because it is of a great deal 
of importance and so rarely noticed. 

A woman is naturally greatly influenced 
by her husband. It adds much to her com- 
fort during a very uncomfortable period if 
he exercises self-control and forbearance, 
giving up when necessary and putting up 
with many inconveniences for the good of 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS o 

the prospective mother, and for that of the 
offspring. 

The prospective mother is rarely able 
to do just as before, so that certain pleas- 
ures or apparent obligations under other 
conditions have to be given up or set aside 
for the time being. These changes may be 
only matters of inconvenience, or they may 
be of a nature to cause considerable self- 
sacrifice; but certain obligations are inev- 
itable, and the grace with which they are 
assumed by both parents makes the great- 
est possible difference to the entire house- 
hold, and no one is more materially affected 
than the child himself. 

Taking for instance, anything so appar- 
ently simple as fresh air — few people 
realize the amount of fresh air which 
should be taken into the system, nor how 
much difference is made in the well-being 
of both mother and child by the amount of 
fresh air which is taken into the systems 
of both. During the long months before 
the baby is born, the mother is breathing 
for two separate individuals, and requires 
much more than the ordinary amount of 
oxygen. Difficulty of respiration is one of 



4 MOTHER AND BABY 

the unpleasant experiences women in preg- 
nancy pass through, and as far more air 
is needed all the time than under ordinary 
conditions, it is very apparent that it 
should be pure and not in any way vitiated. 
One of the most frequent causes of impure 
air is tobacco smoke. This is always in- 
jurious to pregnant women, and to some 
it is absolutely nauseating, for the smoke 
itself contains nicotine, which is a deadly 
poison. For this reason, also, no young 
baby with his delicate respiratory appara- 
tus should inhale this poison. 

This is not intended as a dissertation 
on the evils of smoking, but only to call 
attention to the almost universal custom, 
which in the case of some men at least, 
would be stopped at once if smoking in the 
house could be proved harmful. If smok- 
ing has to be indulged in, there should be 
some place for it besides the bedrooms 
and living-rooms of the family. 

In one of our large cities a much-longed- 
for, and eagerly anticipated baby came to 
the delight of her parents' hearts ; although 
she was breast-fed and seemed to have a 
fine start, after a short time she showed 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 

symptons which alarmed the family. The 
doctor could not find that anything was the 
matter, but the baby was not thriving, so 
a change of air was suggested, and tried 
with satisfactory results. 

After returning home, the same symp- 
toms appeared again, and the doctor began 
to think that moving into the country was 
necessary, for the child was steadily los- 
ing ground. This was practically impos- 
sible, owing to peculiar circumstances, and 
while the question was being agitated as 
to what could be done, the baby became de- 
cidedly miserable, so that the doctor 
ordered her kept in one room and had her 
treated as a sick baby. This involved the 
abolition of smoking in her room with the 
result that in a short time, having better 
air, she began to improve. 

It was only after a number of setbacks, 
and much anxiety on the part of both par- 
ents and the physician, that the idea of 
poisoning from tobacco smoke occurred to 
them. 

The father was an inveterate smoker, 
so that the air of the home was never 
pure. Every time he stopped the baby be- 



6 MOTHER AND BABY 

gan at once to improve, but as regularly 
as he resumed and the house was again 
filled with smoke, she invariably drooped. 
The lesson was finally learned, but nearly 
at the cost of the baby's life. 

This incident is not an exception, but a 
condition often met with, though fre- 
quently perhaps not recognized, or at 
least not mentioned. 

Besides pure air, much exercise is indis- 
pensable for good health, and every human 
being in order to keep in good trim ought 
to be in the open air a great deal. Fresh- 
air treatment is becoming more and more 
popular; there never has been a time when 
it was more extensively advocated than 
at the present. It is one of the best pana- 
ceas for sleeplessness, and nervousness of 
all kinds. This and sunshine are the chief 
agents which are beneficial in tuberculosis, 
and all forms of anaemia, and they are 
plentiful for all who wish it. 

All pregnant women, or women who are 
nursing their babies should be exceedingly 
careful to form the fresh-air habit. The 
best way to accomplish it is not to leave 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 7 

it until a convenient time, but to spend a 
part of every day in the open air, or go 
out at a regular time each day. 

For women who can do so, taking care 
of flowers, digging in the dirt, superintend- 
ing the garden, or having any daily occupa- 
tion which keeps them much out of doors 
is beneficial beyond words. It probably 
seems quite unnecessary to lay so much 
stress on the necessity for fresh air when 
so much is being said on the subject by 
physicians and writers, but, like many of 
the most commonplace facts in life, it is 
too often overlooked by the many who know 
better than they practise. 

A certain foreign physician, anxious to 
prove some scientific question, engaged a 
few peasant women to submit to certain 
rules of living during a period of preg- 
nancy. These women were of the poorest 
of a very poor class, and many of the 
babies that had previously come into these 
homes had died because they were too 
poorly developed to live. The living chil- 
dren were feeble specimens, but the babies 
that were born after the mothers con- 



8 MOTHER AND BABY 

formed to the hygienic rules prescribed by 
the physician were entirely satisfactory, 
physically. 

These women were required to be out in 
sunshine and fresh air daily, and to take 
a regular, simple diet and plenty of sleep. 
The results were just the reverse of their 
former experiences, showing that children 
from the same stock can be physically 
satisfactory or otherwise, depending 
largely upon whether conditions are 
healthful or unhealthful. 

Added to the necessity for physical ex- 
ercise is that for mental exercise also. 
There is nothing like keeping the mind oc- 
cupied with some wholesome pursuit as a 
preventive for unnecessary nervous dis- 
comforts, or morbid fears. It is an excel- 
lent plan for women, as far as practicable, 
to take up some course of reading or study. 

It is said of one of the American novel- 
ists, whose books were quite extensively 
read some years ago, that she did her best 
work when pregnant; always making a 
practice of working systematically and 
hard at this time. 

She was convinced that the results at- 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 9 

tained, and her freedom from nervousness 
more than repaid her for the force of will 
and determination used. 

If women could be made to appreciate 
how much of the formation and moulding 
of the character of their children rests 
upon them, some would surely try harder 
than they do to secure the best results. 

The mental, moral, and physical well- 
being of children is so largely in the hands 
of the parents, and so much depends upon 
the attitude they take, that we may venture 
to say that it is practically impossible for 
women who will not exercise or keep their 
minds occupied in a normal, legitimate 
manner to have healthy or satisfactory 
children. 

Very many of the human wrecks which 
are evident on all sides owe their poor 
physical condition and their moral failures 
to the utter indifference of the fathers and 
mothers. There are many people who 
finally wake up to this, but the scars are al- 
ways to be seen, no matter how sincere 
the desire to make amends. Prophylaxis 
— that is to say, a realization of the evils 
that may come unless the proper precau- 



10 MOTHER AND BABY 

tions are taken here, as everywhere in 
medicine — is by far the wiser course. 

Again, the pregnant woman besides be- 
ing careful about fresh air, exercise, and 
keeping her mind occupied, should observe 
some other essential rules. A great deal 
of sleep is as indispensable as the other 
necessities, and early regular hours should 
be an unalterable rule. In addition to 
early retiring, the woman needs to sleep in 
the daytime, and an hour's nap either be- 
fore or after the midday meal ought to be 
taken religiously each day. The woman 
who observes these simple rules will be 
well repaid, and after trying it once will 
see for herself that it makes just the differ- 
ence between being very comfortable, and 
only slightly inconvenienced, or having 
more or less discomfort all the time; and 
the difference will also be very apparent 
in the child. 

It hardly seems necessary in this en- 
lightened age after so much has been said 
and written about tight lacing to bring it 
up here. Comparatively few women are 
quite so foolish as to indulge in this hurt- 
ful practice now. Very loose corsets or 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 11 

corset "waists which support the clothes 
are not necessarily harmful; the point is 
to have plenty of room to develop, and 
some support for the abdominal muscles. 
Of course, the skirts should be light in 
weight, and everything made to allow for 
free respiration. 

Large shoes with straight heels should 
always be worn ; tight shoes or high heels, 
never. Eubber heels are very comfortable 
for the majority of women, especially 
those who come down with considerable 
force on the heel instead of the ball of the 
foot. Occasionally a woman finds them 
too heavy for comfort, but as a rule, if 
they are properly fitted, they not only facil- 
itate walking, but save much unnecessary 
fatigue. Unless the best grade of heels is 
used they will catch and tear the skirts, 
which is very undesirable. 

Often one of the really trying conditions 
attending pregnancy is the tendency of the 
teeth to decay. A woman should be very 
careful to have them put in good condition 
as early as possible, and very much of the 
trouble can be averted by carefully brush- 
ing them after each meal. On this point 



12 MOTHER AND BABY 

it is surprising how indifferent many peo- 
ple are. One of the great causes of the 
decay of the teeth is simply that no extra 
care is taken of them where the digestion 
is somewhat overtaxed; this is the time 
of all others to be particularly careful. It 
is a very wise precaution not only to brush 
them after each meal, but to rinse the 
mouth three or four times a day with some 
good antiseptic solution. It is better per- 
haps to vary this solution occasionally. 
Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) — about 
a quarter of a teaspoonful to a glass of 
water — makes an excellent mouth wash. 

Sieler's tablets — one tablet to a glass of 
water — have been used with satisfaction 
for many years. Thoughtfulness in this 
matter may save much pain and annoy- 
ance. It might be added that these pre- 
cautions will never come amiss, and ought 
to be taken by every one. 

Closely allied to the care of the teeth is 
the question of diet, which is of prime im- 
portance, and ought to receive more careful 
attention than it does in both pregnant and 
nursing women. The necessity of eating 
food which is wholesome and easily di- 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 13 

gested should be apparent to every one, 
but in this matter, as in many others, it is 
perfectly evident that errors of judgment 
are the rule rather than the exception. 
Before the baby comes — at first, at least 
— loss of appetite is very common; this, 
however, will adjust itself if the woman 
will carefully follow the suggestions that 
follow. 

Generally speaking, it is not wise to eat 
from a sense of duty, for nature will as- 
sert herself, and the appetite will come 
back. Sometimes the craving for food is 
excessive, and a desire to eat all the time 
is quite overpowering. A cup of hot water 
or a glass of lemonade will usually serve to 
stop the craving, and will be far better for 
the woman, and eating between meals 
should be carefully avoided, as it produces 
indigestion. Very much can be accom- 
plished by a firm will and determination not 
to be disturbed by these unusual feelings. 

Meat should be indulged in sparingly 
from the very beginning; it is too rich in 
albumin, which may, and often does, affect 
the kidneys. Two or three times a week 
is sufficient, gradually diminishing this 



14 MOTHER AND BABY 

amount until the last three or four months, 
when none should be eaten. It is often 
wise to give it up entirely, as it is not a 
necessary article of diet for the pregnant 
woman. 

Coffee and tea play an important role 
and are injurious unless very weak. Eich 
foods, pastry, and much sweets will only 
clog up the bowels and make the patient 
generally miserable. Alcohol, of course, 
should never be touched. 

Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, oranges, 
grape fruit, plums, in fact all ripe fruit 
can be eaten with great freedom, and per- 
haps it is not too much to say that no one 
can eat too much fruit if it is taken as food, 
and eaten at meal-time. 

Bananas are rarely ripe when eaten, 
consequently are often indigestible. They 
should be kept until the green ends have 
turned entirely, and the skin somewhat 
black. The inside should be soft and 
smooth. If they are eaten in this state 
most people would not find them hurtful 
in the least. In common with all other 
fruits, they ward off constipation. Green 
fruit of any kind is indigestible. If there 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 15 

is any question about the ripeness of it, 
of course it should be cooked, and for some 
people this is the better way always. The 
plea here is for a free fruit diet; the way 
of serving it, however, depends upon the 
individual. One word here about the ne- 
cessity for washing thoroughly all fruits 
and vegetables before eating, especially if 
they are purchased in any public place. 
There is a possibility of infection from 
vegetables and fruits which come from 
markets, farms, and private gardens. 
The rule for every one should be to eat 
nothing of this kind until made clean, for 
there is no question but that many diseases 
are carried into the system through the 
mouth. The mysterious origin of many 
cases of typhoid fever, for instance, could 
be cleared up if it were possible to detect 
the bacillus by the naked eye, instead of 
the complicated laboratory methods. 

Not many years ago a young woman was 
in a hot climate for the first time. In spite 
of the warnings of companions and old 
residents, she persisted in eating fruit, un- 
cooked and unwashed; as a consequence, 
she contracted a fatal bowel trouble and 



16 MOTHER AND BABY 

died, alone, and far from her family and 
relations. This was a perfectly unneces- 
sary sacrifice of life, and all because she 
would not take what seemed to her a use- 
less precaution. 

Cereals are most wholesome, wheat, 
hominy, rice, etc. It is safe to say that 
vegetables, simple dessert, and milk can 
be taken in great abundance. Too much 
stress can not be laid upon the necessity 
for drinking much milk, although there are 
women who object to this, because they 
say it disagrees with them. It rarely dis- 
agrees with a pregnant or nursing woman, 
and if given with some care, can practi- 
cally always be taken and well digested. 
Nature demands it, and in these cases, as 
in all others, it is the part of wisdom to 
obey nature 's dictates. Many more women 
could nurse their children if they would 
be careful to drink milk freely all the 
months before the baby comes. Sweets in 
moderation are allowable, especially choco- 
late, unless owing to some personal idio- 
syncrasy it gives trouble, a concession to 
personality, however, which applies to all 
articles of diet. 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 17 

It is imperative that a large amount of 
water should be taken into the system 
every day. There is nothing which will 
do more to guard against constipation 
than drinking plenty of good, pure water. 
If this has not been a habit before, it should 
be most assiduously cultivated during 
pregnancy. 

This should be taken before breakfast, 
the last thing before going to bed, and 
also several times between meals. Vichy 
is agreeable to many, and perfectly al- 
lowable, the chief objection to it being that 
it may cause eructations, which are rather 
more easily acquired at this time, and de- 
cidedly unpleasant. An unnatural desire 
or craving for some unusual article of food 
is sometimes met with. The woman who 
steadily refuses to indulge herself inordi- 
nately in any way has gained a victory 
which tells in more ways than one. Great 
moderation in everything and no excesses 
of any kind should be the rule, and the 
woman who adheres to this will save her- 
self much unnecessary trouble. 

Pregnant women have unlimited oppor- 
tunities to exercise self-control, although it 



18 MOTHER AND BABY 

may be hard for a woman who has never 
practised this to make a beginning now. 
But if she wishes to get the best out of life 
for herself or her child, it is absolutely 
essential. 

No fine character develops without self- 
control as one of its bases. Godliness, 
truthfulness, and cleanliness complete the 
figure, and on this structure the power for 
good that may be reached is really un- 
limited. 

A teacher was relating some of the woes 
of her experience to a wise woman, the 
mother of a large family of boys and girls 
who were famous for their good minds 
and good manners. Finally she said, "But 
you do not understand any of this, for your 
mother trained you before you were born, 
and you have trained every one of your 
children before he was born, consequently 
one-half of life's battles were won for 
them before they started out themselves." 

Of all the factors which go to make up 
the complex existence which we call life, 
there is not one which does so much to- 
ward building up the general well-being of 
humanity as a methodical emptying of the 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 19 

bowels at regular intervals. It makes so 
much difference in the mental attitude as 
well as the physical that it is positively 
astounding with what indifference the mat- 
ter is treated by so many intelligent peo- 
ple. It is the first question asked by a 
physician, and a great many times the an- 
swer is that in order to have any move- 
ments a cathartic has to be taken; and 
many people say that it is nothing uncom- 
mon not to have the bowels move for two, 
three or more days at a time. The effect 
of this carelessness is more far-reaching 
than the laity can possibly realize. 

It is a common factor in many nerv- 
ous disorders, extreme or otherwise. In- 
sane patients almost to a unit are consti- 
pated. It is a well-known fact that the 
great majority of sufferers from appendi- 
citis have been constipated, perhaps for 
years. In many of the large department 
stores anti-appendicitis medicine is sold to 
the credulous public. Those who buy it 
suppose that it contains some magic charm 
to ward off that much-dreaded disease, 
when in reality it is largely composed of 
simple and well-known remedies added to 



20 MOTHER AND BABY 

some cathartic which simply causes the 
bowels to move. 

Constipation not only renders individ- 
uals particularly liable to appendicitis, 
and in fact to all diseased conditions, but 
unless the alimentary tract is kept cleared 
it makes them a far easier prey to typhoid 
fever, dysentery, and all kindred diseases. 
In fact, there is no abnormal condition that 
is not made materially worse by having 
the bowels clogged. Of late there has been 
a good deal of talk about auto-infection as 
an exciting cause in those obscure cases of 
headache and neurasthenia, which are the 
bugbear of every physician and often so 
hard to treat successfully. This simply 
means lack of properly keeping the system 
cleared of the effete matters which act as 
a poison. The lungs, the skin, the kidneys 
and the bowels are required to do active 
work to keep the machinery going. If any 
one of these agents is not up to the work 
the others have added work to do. It is 
decidedly the part of wisdom if one would 
have good health to take care that each 
organ does its best so far as the individual 
can control it. 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 21 

The cases of constipation (unless due to 
malformation) which cannot be cured by 
patience and perseverance on the part of 
the victim are few and far between. The 
trouble is that people will not persistently 
try. If the dainty and fastidious would 
only stop to consider that the breath and 
perspiration of people whose bowels do 
not move with great regularity are always 
more or less offensive, this might act as 
an additional spur. Acne (blackheads) 
and various skin eruptions are caused by 
digestive disturbances, all of which can be 
greatly benefited by care and attention to 
the diet and the proper condition of the 
bowels. 

The above remarks are applicable to all 
mankind, but they apply with double force 
to the pregnant woman. There is more 
danger of auto-infection in her case, than 
under ordinary conditions; therefore, no 
pregnant woman should allow one single 
day to pass without a free defecation. The 
rule should never be violated. According 
to the suggestions already given, fresh air, 
with an abundance of water and the proper 
diet ivill invariably do the work. Cathar- 



22 MOTHER AND BABY 

tics are harmful and should never be used, 
except by the physicians' orders. 

It has been said that one of the waste 
channels is through the skin. This is a 
complex structure composed of various 
layers, the external one made up of old 
dead scales of skin which are constantly 
peeling off to make room for other scales. 
This process of scaling or desquamating is 
going on all the time, otherwise the skin 
would become leathery and hard, as is seen 
in old people who do not bathe enough. It 
is plentifully provided with two kinds of 
glands, sweat or sudoriferous, and seba- 
ceous or oil glands. The sweat glands are 
many, and all over the body, being particu- 
larly plentiful in the palms of the hands 
and the soles of the feet. The sebaceous 
glands are closely related to the hair, each 
separate hair having two or more little 
glands around it. Their function is to 
keep the skin soft and supple by supplying 
the necessary oil, and to give the hair 
nourishment and lustre. These glands are 
particularly large around the nose, and on 
the cheeks. Besides the oily or sebaceous 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 23 

substance which comes from the oil glands, 
normal sweat contains an oil also, and 
with these secretions is freely mixed ef- 
fete matter from the system. The process 
of discharging these mixed substances is 
going on more or less completely all the 
time, depending upon a number of condi- 
tions. When the other avenues of elimi- 
nation are doing their part, and only the 
normal amount of work is put upon the 
skin, conditions are generally satisfactory, 
but just as soon as an extra amount of 
work is expected, unless care is taken there 
is apt to be trouble. There are cases 
where the glands are abnormally active. 
If these are the sebaceous, the skin looks 
oily and greasy unless great care is taken. 
If the sweat glands are easily excited, 
profuse perspiration is the result, which 
is only too apparent to every one. The 
two essentials for having a fine skin are 
first, a good digestion, and second, bathing 
freely. 

The Spanish lady of high rank who 
boasted that she had never had an ordinary 
bath with soap and water in her life, but 



24 MOTHER AND BABY 

that she was occasionally rubbed down 
with, a towel soaked in oil undoubtedly pre- 
ferred this method. 

No mention is made, however, of her ap- 
pearance or the odor which emanated from 
her person, but perhaps it is better to pass 
these over in silence. To keep the skin in 
good order, and to have it do its share of 
the work toward good health, a person 
should take a bath from head to foot once 
a day the three hundred and sixty-five days 
in the year. 

There are people who look clean on 
much less than this number, but the great 
majority can not keep so on much less than 
one bath a day. A proof of this may be 
found by taking a Turkish bath, which in- 
cludes a vigorous steaming and scrubbing. 
From many people small rolls of skin and 
dirt are removed, and this means a lack of 
sufficient bathing and rubbing to keep the 
surface of the skin freed from the dead 
particles combined with dirt and perspira- 
tion. If a person exercises a good deal, 
and perspires freely, nothing but bathing 
once a day at least makes him agreeable 
to his friends and comrades. 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 25 

The question as to the wisdom of taking 
a bath every day has been discussed by 
many, some for and others against the 
scheme. There may be peculiar circum- 
stances which make it unwise for an oc- 
casional person to bathe often, but this is 
the exception not the rule. For a normal, 
healthy person who eats, exercises, and 
sleeps as he should, a cold bath in the 
morning is one of the best tonics that can 
possibly be taken. So far, these notes ap- 
ply to the pregnant woman as to all healthy 
women. 

The question may be legitimately raised 
as to the advisability of her taking a cold 
plunge every morning, but a sponge bath 
cannot hurt any one, and it will help get 
the circulation and respiration into good 
order as nothing else. It is essential to 
remove these scales from the skin, which 
frequently adhere, especially if the oil 
glands are active so that a hard rubbing 
with a flesh brush or coarse towel is needed 
to keep the surface smooth. Cold baths 
alone are hardly equal to removing all 
this outer layer, particularly if the water 
is hard, so that they had better be supple- 



26 MOTHER AND BABY 

merited during the week by one or two 
warm ones. There is very little danger of 
a well-occupied individual bathing too 
much — the great majority do not begin to 
bathe enough. 

It is quite evident that if this is true, 
it applies with double force when double 
work for the skin is required, and just as 
fresh air and exercise will allay sleepless- 
ness and nervous disorders, so will bathing 
when properly done. 

A warm bath at night will often make a 
nervous, wakeful person rest quietly, and 
a morning cold bath with an energetic rub 
will make the heart beat better, and in 
cold weather will warm one up for all 
day. A hot douche down the spine fol- 
lowed by a cold one, is one of the best 
nerve bracers that can possibly be advised. 
Spinal douches are given by letting a spray 
of water play upon the spine from a suffi- 
cient distance to produce a sharp reaction, 
the distance being determined by the feel- 
ings of the patient. In an ordinary bath- 
room a few inches is generally quite suf- 
ficient. 

The water should be first hot, then cold, 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 27 

and allowed to play from the base of the 
brain to the end of the spine. To be given 
in this way requires the assistance of an- 
other person, but an excellent substitute is 
to stand in the tub and squeeze a sponge 
full of water on the back of the neck, alter- 
nating with hot and cold. This should be 
done several times to procure a proper re- 
action. 

Towards the last of pregnancy, a hot 
sitz-bath at night is particularly refresh- 
ing, and if taken two or three times a 
week exerts a very beneficial influence. 
If all women would take sitz-baths for the 
last month or six weeks, and one after 
labor pains have commenced, it would 
often facilitate matters better than any 
known drug. 

It is certainly a very simple remedy, 
and the truth of these statements can be 
easily verified by the testing. Hot and 
cold water judiciously applied will miti- 
gate and frequently cure many of the ills 
of life. The mistake people so frequently 
make is thinking that the remedy is' so 
simple it is hardly worth trying. It is 
certainly true that many people would 



28 MOTHER AND BABY 

rather do something unusual or employ 
some more pronounced method, as Naa- 
man did, or even take drugs, to reach 
some desired end, rather that anything 
so commonplace as plain water; and in 
many instances the water treatment is far 
more efficacious. 

Before leaving this subject, one more 
phase must be mentioned. The care of the 
breasts is of prime importance and is often 
omitted, when most disastrous conse- 
quences follow. 

They should be washed carefully every 
day, especial attention being given to the 
nipple and surrounding tissue. 

Use cold water and soap, and rub with 
increasing vigor until all sensitiveness is 
gone, occasionally using a few drops of 
carbolic acid — 10 or 15 drops in a bowl of 
water. If the nipples are retracted, in 
addition to the washing, they should be 
massaged until visible results are attained. 
If there are cracks or fissures ichthyol, 
10%, with lanolin and vaseline, equal 
parts, rubbed in will heal them, and this 
should be accomplished before the baby 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 29 

Mastitis, or inflammation of the breasts, 
is one of the most distressingly painful 
complications attending confinements, and 
is practically unnecessary if proper care 
has been taken. 

Not a single instance of mastitis was 
found in following the histories of many 
pregnancies where this simple precaution 
had been taken. There, too, it is not in- 
frequently the case, that the soreness and 
discomfort caused by the chewing and bit- 
ing by the baby is so severe as to cause the 
mother to give up trying to nurse him, so 
that there is not only the danger of masti- 
tis which is caused by infection from with- 
out entering through the cracks or fissures, 
but the possibility (which is always to be 
deplored) of the baby's being deprived of 
his proper nourishment. If the nipple and 
tissues around it are properly cared for, 
however, there is little opportunity for 
these complications. Again, prophylaxis 
is the wiser measure. 

There is still one more suggestion as to 
the care a woman should take, which if 
followed, helps much to bring about satis- 
factory results ; rubbing the abdomen 



30 MOTHER AND BABY 

thoroughly with any good lubricant, as 
olive oil. The strokes should begin on 
the right side, then be carried up and 
across the bowels, then down the left side 
— also kneading the muscles gently, using 
the oil freely, and rubbing it well in. This 
is very efficacious for constipation, and 
helps balance the circulation. 

A certain physician made for himself 
a considerable reputation for the easy de- 
liveries of his patients, using some method 
not generally known to the public to pro- 
cure these results ; it finally became known 
that the " charm " employed was oil well 
rubbed into the abdomen three or four 
times a week before labor. This simple 
remedy has been used by careful obste- 
tricians for a long time. 

It gives some people a great deal of 
pleasure to talk over their experiences with 
others, and if these particular experiences 
have been unusually severe the pleasure 
seems to be keen in proportion. Often 
the results are far from pleasing to the 
one who hears the stories. More than one 
prospective mother has been made very 
nervous and unhappy by these recitals, and 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 31 

the effect has been far reaching. In nerv- 
ous, hysterical women with strong imagi- 
nations, the dread and anxiety with which 
they look forward to the crisis is pitiful, 
and all so absolutely uncalled for. For 
instance, there is a great deal of gossip 
among certain types of women regarding 
instrumental delivery. Truly, the inven- 
tion of forceps was a fine thing for human- 
ity, and at times by their aid the mother 's 
life or the life of the child has been saved. 
But it is never necessary for a pregnant 
woman to be alarmed by the garbled his- 
tory of exceptional cases. 

In 1354 consecutive cases in the New 
York Infirmary for "Women and Children 
forceps were used only thirty-two times, 
and of these, of course, many of the pa- 
tients were foreigners with deformed pel- 
vis. The above is probably too high a 
percentage for the same number of Amer- 
ican women. 

In the countries where the inhabitants 
are only half civilized or savage, child- 
bearing is rather a slight affair, causing 
but little inconvenience to the woman. 
Pain and complications follow in the wake 



32 MOTHER AND BABY 

of civilization, and even here increase with 
wealth and luxurious living. 

Among the laboring class where there is 
not any too much time to be laid aside, 
women as a rule do well, excepting when 
stupid or ignorant mechanical interference 
has produced evil effects. Cases are seen 
in the hospitals over and over again where 
the women are delivered with no great 
amount of pain, and occasionally with no 
pain at all. It seems very reasonable to 
suppose that by far the majority of cases 
could be made much easier, if not entirely 
free from pain, if the proper precautions 
were taken. 

The blunders made by the ancestors have 
to be accepted — the alleviation that comes 
from right living by the children is all that 
can be done — but the doctrine of the ablest 
thinkers on the subject will be found to 
agree in this: ''It is the previous life of 
the mother, the whole of it from her birth 
to the birth of her child, which almost en- 
tirely determines what her danger, her 
difficulty, and her pain during childbirth 
shall be." 



COUNSEL TO MOTHERS 33 

RECAPITULATION 

I. Let both parents accept the situation cheer- 
fully, exercising forbearance and self-denial as 
the occasion requires. 

II. Let the mother live in fresh, pure air 
twenty-four hours of the day, and exercise regu- 
larly. 

III. Keep the mind occupied with some healthy 
employment. 

IV. Keep the mouth and teeth scrupulously 
clean. 

V. Eat simple, easily digested food and fruit, 
avoiding all highly seasoned articles, all stimu- 
lants, including strong tea and coffee. 

VI. Drink plenty of water and plenty of milk. 

VII. Take much sleep. 

VIII. Keep the bowels well open. 

IX. Bathe from head to foot every day and 
rub the nipples vigorously each time. 

X. Avoid all unnecessary conversation of 
awful experiences of other women during preg- 
nancy or labor, and all unwholesome excitement, 
whether from books or any form of amusement. 
In fact, cultivate self-control and patience, and 
the results will quite repay the effort put forth. 



CHAPTER II 
CARE OF THE NEW BABY 

In the foregoing chapter were sugges- 
tions to prospective mothers which, if car- 
ried out, would rob that part of their ex- 
perience of much of its dread and morbid 
fear. 

In this chapter will be given suggestions 
as to the care of the children after they 
are started in life. Each turn in a child's 
career has its own peculiar demand, and 
these demands have to be regulated by 
some older person. The child whose lot has 
been cast where his needs are ministered 
to with wisdom and sincerity of purpose 
has a most tremendous advantage. All 
babies are entitled to the best, but very 
few ever have this ; fortunately many who 
only have mediocre care, and some who 
have the worst that is possible, survive and 
"make good." 

Ignorance is at the bottom of most of 



CARE OF THE NEW BABY 35 

the mistakes that are made, and it is ap- 
palling to see the results, so painfully in 
evidence on all sides, produced by mothers 
who love their children and try to do the 
best that they know for them. 

Instinct and mother love are strong in- 
deed, but experience has shown that they 
are insufficient to grapple with this great 
problem unaided. 

A physician was attending a foreigner 
in confinement, in a crowded district of 
one of our large cities; in addition to the 
members of the immediate family, a num- 
ber of friends and neighbors were as- 
sembled, after the prevailing custom of 
these people, giving advice and offering 
sympathy. After the baby was born, one 
of the friends, rather older and more im- 
portant than the others, picked up the wee 
little scrap by his heels, and plunged him 
head first into a large dish-pan full of cold 
water. This operation was repeated three 
times before the doctor could stop her, 
and the explanation given was that if the 
child survived he would grow up to be of 
some use in the world. 

It is possible that this and other remark- 



36 MOTHER AND BABY 

able measures may account somewhat for 
the enormous death rate among the for- 
eign population in this country. The won- 
der is, not that so many children die, but 
that any live, in view of the treatment 
they receive. A new baby, who was being 
cared for by a woman who was not trained 
to the business, made faces and put out his 
tongue as babies always do. The nurse 
concluded that this was a sign that the 
child wanted something, so questioned the 
mother as to whether she had had any un- 
usual desire or longing for any article of 
food. She replied that she had longed 
for bananas, whereupon the attendant 
procured and fed to a little baby less than 
a week old a large piece of raw banana, and 
what is still more remarkable, the child 
survived— a dangerous experiment, and 
not worth the trying. Even where much 
greater intelligence is displayed, the re- 
sults are often appalling. 

The sacrifice of human life is terrible, 
even among intelligent people, and there 
is no possible doubt that many children 
die every year from neglect and bad man- 
agement. 



CARE OF THE NEW BABY 37 

Fortunately, statistics show much im- 
provement ; nevertheless, if the facts could 
be made public, it would be a ghastly 
showing, for the sacrifice of lives still goes 
on. 

Many ask how children ever could grow 
up in the days before sterilized milk and 
trained nurses were dreamed of. 

There are many conditions that have to 
be taken into consideration, which a few 
years ago did not exist. For one thing, 
the art of living is much more complex 
than it used to be. Formerly women more 
generally nursed their babies, people did 
not live so fast, and mothers were not so 
nervous and hysterical. They were not 
crowded into such close quarters, and 
there were far more space and air. Tu- 
berculosis had not made such rapid in- 
roads and become such a menace. Large 
cities, such as we have now, did not exist. 
It is impossible to herd people together 
as they are herded now in flats, apartment 
houses, and hotels, without bringing a train 
of evils to the children which is simply in- 
calculable. Parents have to be on the 
alert constantly to guard against these; 



38 MOTHER AND BABY 

but, try as they may to stem the tide and 
save the children, the odds are against 
them. Every one must acknowledge that 
simple living is better, and that children 
brought up in the country have a far better 
chance. The death rate in cities is always 
far higher than in the country. Then, too, 
the great increase of foreigners has made 
much difference, and the tremendous death 
rate is largely made up from the mortality 
in this class, and is due to ignorance and 
neglect of the children. 

The intelligent feeding of children is the 
most important factor of all, and when 
mothers have thoroughly learned this, it 
will do more toward reducing the mortal- 
ity than all the other things combined. 
Experience is of course the best teacher, 
but the first baby needs as much care as 
the fifth or sixth. 

Mothers who have never had any ex- 
perience are very helpless when left to 
their own devices, and the responsibility 
of motherhood is often put upon young 
girls who are entirely unfit both physically 
and mentally for the task. With abso- 
lutely no training, and good sense and 



CARE OF THE NEW BABY 39 

judgment entirely latent, it is hardly to 
be wondered at that such awful failures 
result. 

Neighbors and friends are kind and will- 
ing to do all they can, especially in the 
giving of advice which they do most freely, 
but this often, alas, leads to much trouble 
when followed. 

A young girl whose husband had left 
her, arrived at the dispensary sick and for- 
lorn. She had with her a small baby 
nearly a month old. The child's extreme 
pallor was very noticeable and close ques- 
tioning brought out the following history. 
The poor, tired mother said that at first the 
baby cried and fretted a great deal and 
worried her very much, but a "lady 
friend" told her that she could get medi- 
cine at the drug store to give the baby to 
quiet it. The mother was unwilling, how- 
ever, to do this because some one had told 
her that these quieting medicines were not 
good for babies. Another neighbor — a 
nurse ! — told her to give him one teaspoon- 
ful of whisky with each feeding, which 
would be good for the child and would 
quiet it, too. 



40 MOTHER AND BABY 

The mother added that the baby had 
been "awful good" ever since she began 
this line of treatment. Imagine giving a 
baby this dose ! The poor little object was 
literally "dead drunk." It is not at all 
improbable that the neighbor meant this 
in all kindness, for people have most re- 
markable ideas about caring for children, 
nor is this instance as unusual as might be 
supposed. 

A physician was called to see what ailed 
a child not two years old, in whose case 
certain symptoms had manifested them- 
selves, so that the mother was alarmed. 
The physician found, after asking many 
questions, that the mother, a society 
woman, had been in the habit of giving 
the baby, every night, a large dose of 
whisky so that she could go out with a 
clear conscience ( !) and know that the child 
was not screaming, but quietly sleeping. 
The diagnosis in this case was marked al- 
coholism. 

These two instances are from the ex- 
tremes of society, but the results were the 
same. Probably neither woman had any 
clear idea as to the permanent and evil 



CAKE OF THE NEW BABY 41 

effect of such a course of treatment. Few 
women are so heartless as deliberately to 
try to kill their own children, but the fact 
remains, as has been said before, that 
many children die from ignorance or care- 
lessness. 

To care for children properly, an in- 
telligent method systematically carried 
out is indispensable. Happy-go-lucky 
methods are neither wise nor safe; the 
problem is too serious for any haphazard 
schemes. A certain number of routine ex- 
ercises have to be gone through with day 
after day. It is evident that the more 
methodically these things are done, the 
better it will be for the baby. It is super- 
fluous to tell any one that night is the 
time to sleep, and yet many babies have 
to be taught to sleep at night, and do most 
of their eating in the day. The care of 
a baby commences at the beginning of his 
career, and, though his actual wants are 
few for the first three or four days, a 
watchful oversight and good judgment 
are necessary. 

It is neither necessary nor advisable 
to make very numerous preparations for 



42 MOTHER AND BABY 

the expected baby, but what things are 
needed should be ready for use and no 
time wasted running around for them 
when they are wanted. 

Have on hand boiled water, which must 
be kept covered until needed; put it in a 
clean pitcher and cover with a clean towel. 
Besides this there should be plenty more 
in the kettle on the stove. A boracic acid 
solution will be needed; this also must be 
covered. It is made of one teaspoonful 
of the powder to a pint of boiling water. 

Old muslin,, olive oil, and the baby's 
clothes in which he is to be dressed, should 
be warmed and near at hand. 

The very first thing to be done for the 
baby is to wash out his eyes, nose and 
mouth carefully with a warm boracic acid 
solution, then wash his hands with the 
same solution, as immediately after birth 
many babies put their hands into their 
mouths. Have squares of old muslin 
torn off ready for use; dip one into the 
solution, use it and throw it away, then 
take a fresh piece, use it and throw it 
away also. By so doing, the original so- 
lution can be used indefinitely and yet be 




§ 9 
o 8 



., w 



CARE OF THE NEW BABY 43 

clean. Being very prompt about this is 
essential, and often saves much future 
trouble for the baby. 

The mucus in a baby's eyes is very 
irritating, and, unless promptly and care- 
fully washed out, often causes a discharge 
which may last many months. If, at first, 
the discharge is anything more than a 
small amount of secretion in the corner 
of the eyes, call the doctor's attention to 
it. Never trust to the judgment of any 
layman in this matter, but speak to the 
physician in charge, for any neglect may 
mean unsightly blindness. Too much is 
at stake to allow any but the doctor's opin- 
ion to be followed. It is estimated that 
twenty-five per cent, of the blindness in 
New York City begins in early babyhood. 
A discharge generally appears by the 
third or fourth day of life, which often 
leads ultimately to total blindness. Wash- 
ing with boracic acid and promptly at- 
tending to the eyes cannot always pre- 
vent serious trouble, but will often miti- 
gate the fearful results. 

After the mother and attendant have 
had their hearts gladdened by the first 



44 MOTHER AND BABY 

cry so earnestly longed for, and the cord 
has been properly fixed and cut, lift the 
baby by the heels with one hand, putting 
the other under the head. Place him in 
a piece of old muslin which can be burned 
later, wrap the whole in an old blanket, 
and have bags filled with hot water ready 
to put around the outside of the blankets. 
This precaution is necessary even in sum- 
mer for the baby feels the change in tem- 
perature and is always cold until respira- 
tion is well established. Great care must 
be taken with the hot-water bags; they 
must be well covered, for the baby's skin 
is sensitive, and serious accidents have 
occurred when this precaution has been 
neglected. 

Never allow him to become chilled, as 
colic is generally the result. It might be 
emphasized here, and will be spoken of 
again later, that in following this simple 
rule many hours of anguish and unhappi- 
ness are spared the baby, the family, and 
even the neighbors. In laying him down, 
observe great care to place him in a posi- 
tion in which he can breathe. More than 
one child has died because the attendant, 



CARE OF THE NEW BABY 45 

through carelessness or haste, laid him 
on his face and the mistake was not dis- 
covered until too late. 

Kespiration starts at birth; some babies 
are very slow to get it right, and it often 
takes much energy on the part of the doc- 
tor and the nurse to make him breathe at 
all, so this caution is given: be careful, 
and do nothing to impede it. 

A baby came into a family which had 
long been childless. There was much re- 
joicing, of course, but even here one of 
those awful blunders was made, and the 
child when looked at after it had been laid 
down, was dead, suffocated by being placed 
on his face. Such mistakes are inexcus- 
able. 

In the excitement of caring for the 
mother, it is often impossible to do more 
than look at the baby from time to time, 
but this must be done frequently, not only 
to see, as has been said before, that he is 
breathing properly, but also to see that 
there is no bleeding from the cord. It 
sometimes happens that the ligature must 
be tightened, for the possibility of a hem- 
orrhage must always be borne in mind. If 



46 MOTHER AND BABY 

carefully watched, this is not likely to oc- 
cur. 

As soon as it is convenient, rub him well 
with warm olive oil or sterilized lard, 
cover him up again; then he may be left 
for several hours if necessary. When he 
is washed, however, great care should be 
taken that all the white cheesy substance, 
"Vernix caseosa," be removed from all 
the creases ; under the arms, in the groins, 
and behind and in the ears. Later, many 
little babies suffer from eczema in these 
places as this cheesy matter becomes an 
irritant if left on the skin. After he is 
washed, the cord should be dressed with 
a piece of plain, clean gauze, held in place 
by a flannel binder, which by the way must 
not be too tight. It not infrequently hap- 
pens that inexperienced hands pull the 
binder so tight that respiration is im- 
paired. In the case of a foreigner this 
was done until the ribs were badly bent, 
and the baby moaned and cried feebly 
until the doctor discovered the cause. 
Much injury can be done this way, and 
makes the bands an element of danger if 
carelessly handled. Put over the band a 



CARE OF THE NEW BABY 47 

flannel shirt, then a flannel skirt and fi- 
nally an outing flannel wrapper or some- 
thing similar. 

It is well to put a piece of old muslin, 
which can be burned later, inside the dia- 
per, thus saving much washing for the 
first two or three days, as the discharge 
from the bowels is a thick, tarry, sticky 
substance, "meconium," very hard to re- 
move. This gradually changes and grows 
lighter in color until digestion is fairly es- 
tablished, when the movements become 
normal, that is, light yellow. 

After the toilet is complete, and the 
mother has had a nap, the baby should be 
put to the breast. The nipples and the 
baby's mouth should be carefully washed 
with a boracic acid solution, and this oper- 
ation repeated before each nursing until 
the child is weaned. 

This should be done for several reasons, 
one of which is that it helps get the nip- 
ples into shape for future use. It is good 
for the mother to have the baby pull at the 
breast for it is a prevention of uterine 
hemorrhages and promotes contractions, 
which is most desirable. Little babies 



48 MOTHER AND BABY 

have more strength than is commonly sup- 
posed, and their attempts at nursing have 
a decidedly prophylactic value and are oc- 
casionally much needed. The effort also 
stimulates the glands into greater activity 
and increases the flow of milk. On the 
other hand, some women have lost their 
milk entirely when the precaution has been 
neglected. It is so much better both for 
the mother and the child that the latter 
should be breast-fed that every condition 
should be fulfilled that helps bring this 
about. 

A woman came into the writer's office 
to engage her services for her coming con- 
finement. On questioning the patient 
about her first baby the mother said she 
could not nurse him, that she never had 
any milk. In response to more questions 
as to whether she had taken milk freely 
before the baby came she said no — the 
other doctor did not tell her to. She said 
the child was delivered with instruments, 
and the doctor had told her not to have 
him put to the breast until after the third 
day, as he said there was nothing there 
and it would only worry her. 






CARE OF THE NEW BABY 49 

The physician's orders were obeyed, 
with the result that when the baby did try 
to nurse there was nothing for him and 
consequently he had to be given the bottle. 

On this occasion the order was given 
to have the patient drink milk freely for 
the three or four months remaining. At 
the time of confinement no instruments 
were used, the labor being perfectly 
normal. In a short time, after the mother 
had rested, the baby was put to the breast, 
and this operation repeated every four or 
five hours until the milk came. The re- 
sult was most satisfactory, the second 
baby was nursed entirely for ten months, 
and was a most beautiful specimen of what 
a baby should be. The first one was al- 
ways sick and fretful during his baby 
days and developed into a nervous, peevish 
child, frequently taking cold and often 
sick. There is probably no reason why he 
could not have been nursed properly as 
well as the second child, but for the stu- 
pidity or carelessness on the part of the 
attending physician. 

It is certainly astonishing how fre- 
quently the practice of having the mothers 



50 MOTHER AND BABY 

drink milk before the baby comes, and put- 
ting him to the breast at regular intervals 
for the first three days after birth, is en- 
tirely disregarded by physicians. There 
is no doubt but that this explains why 
women who are anxious to nurse their ba- 
bies are often unable. 

There is still another reason for the 
baby's having the "colostrum," the wa- 
tery secretion which the breast contains 
at first. It acts as a mild cathartic and 
helps to free the bowels of meconium, of 
which they are full at first. And, finally, 
it is the only approach to nourishment that 
the child is capable of assimilating for the 
first seventy-two hours of life. The di- 
gestive apparatus is entirely unfit to do 
any work, and the bowels are full of a 
substance which must be discharged be- 
fore digestion can begin. 

A teaspoonful of boiled water given 
two or three times a day, or once in six 
or eight hours, will also help, being good 
for the bowels and stimulating the kid- 
neys into action. More than this for the 
first three days no baby should ever have. 
A young, inexperienced nurse tried the 



CARE OF THE NEW BABY 51 

experiment of giving a baby two days old 
a little milk. The child died in a convul- 
sion shortly afterward. The attending 
physician was much surprised at the ba- 
by's death, as it was a healthy, normal 
child, and begged to have a post-mortem. 
In the stomach was found a ball of curds 
about the size of a small nut. On ques- 
tioning the nurse, she said she gave him 
a little milk, and she knew it was fresh as 
she took it from the ice chest. It is quite 
safe to say that this nurse probably never 
repeated this blunder; one such mistake 
as this will do for a lifetime. If Nature 
had intended to have babies fed earlier, 
she would not invariably keep them wait- 
ing for three days. It is safe to assume 
that the plan is intentional, and when peo- 
ple officiously try to improve on it, disas- 
ter always follows. Another blunder 
which is frequently made, due to the eag- 
erness of the attendant to give the poor 
child something to eat, is giving it sweet- 
ened water. If the mother has any colos- 
trum in the breasts at all, this is slightly 
sweet and the water needs no sugar, which 
is more of an injury than a benefit. The 



52 MOTHER AND BABY 

kidneys of the new baby are frequently 
slow to act. It is sometimes several hours 
before the child passes any urine. If the 
water is given regularly, they will start 
up eventually, especially after the milk 
comes, though they may act very infre- 
quently until then. 

Take great care to protect the eyes from 
the light, but, unless there is some strong 
reason for so doing, the room should not 
be darkened. 

If the little baby cries much for the first 
three days of life, it is from pain or dis- 
comfort, and the most potent cause of the 
trouble is cold. 

If the respiration is slow at first, it 
often takes a number of hours to get the 
child warmed so that the nails of the hands 
and feet are of the proper color. Such 
children have to be carefully watched. 

It is just these cases where the mistake 
is so often made of feeding them because 
they cry, when really they need to be thor- 
oughly warmed. It is very reasonable to 
conclude that if the child is cold because of 
poor circulation, such a thing as digesting 
milk is entirely out of the question. A 



CARE OF THE NEW BABY 53 

long train of evils follows in the wake of 
feeding milk to the baby before he is ready 
for it, the evil most in evidence being colic. 
That, like many of the other ailments con- 
nected with this event, is largely prevent- 
able. 

Wait for three days before feeding the 
baby anything but boiled water, always 
keep him warm and dry, and the normal 
baby will sleep almost the entire time until 
regular nursing habits are formed. 

Handle the new baby as little as possi- 
ble, carrying him from the cradle to his 
mother to be nursed, and the necessary 
moving to keep him dry and warm will be 
quite enough exercise for him. For the 
first seventy-two hours, sleep and quiet are 
so important that visitors should be ex- 
cluded, except the immediate family, and 
then the baby must not be disturbed. So 
much of the child's and family's future 
peace of mind depends upon proper man- 
agement, that it is impossible to begin too 
soon to follow methodical measures. 



54 MOTHER AND BABY 

RECAPITULATION 

I. Have boiled water in pitchers and on the 
stove, and boracic acid and olive oil or vaseline, 
old muslin and a blanket near at hand. 

II. Wash eyes, nose, mouth, and hands im- 
mediately. 

III. Place hot-water bags outside of blankets 
which baby is rolled in. 

IV. After he is well oiled, he can be left until 
a convenient time for washing, but when bathing 
remove all cheesy substance carefully. 

V. Put baby to breast after mother has had 
nap, repeat operation every four or five hours 
until milk comes. 

VI. Wash nipples and baby's mouth before 
each nursing. 

VII. Give baby a teaspoon ful of warm water 
(boiled) every six hours. 

VIII. Protect eyes from light, see that the 
color of nails of hands and feet is normal, keep 
warm and dry, and handle as little as possible. 



CHAPTER III 

CLOTHING AND CARE FOR THE BABY 

The proper kind of clothes for children 
is an important question, and requires 
much thought. Much energy and money 
are frequently expended for the first baby 
on things that later seem unsatisfactory, 
and they are discarded. As for the un- 
derclothes, there are three things neces- 
sary to be considered and of prime im- 
portance. Choose materials that are 
light in weight, that retain body heat, that 
absorb moisture. Silk looks very dainty, 
and is expensive (an item of attraction 
for some) but it does not absorb mois- 
ture, therefore it is not desirable. Linen 
is cold and has poor absorbing proper- 
ties, and as babies are easily chilled this 
is not satisfactory. Cotton is very heavy 
and, excepting in summer, should not be 
worn; children who wear cotton under- 
clothes always have cold feet and hands. 

55 



56 MOTHER AND BABY 

The selection is much narrowed when 
these fabrics are condemned and elimi- 
nated. There is nothing left but woolen, 
either plain or combined with linen or silk. 
It is far better used by itself, without silk 
or linen, and is the ideal fabric for shirts 
and bands for little babies. Most of the 
modern houses are heated to 68° or 70°, 
nearly summer heat, consequently it is 
wiser not to have very thick woolens. 
The medium weight in winter is quite warm 
enough, and the very light weight for 
summer. Keeping children too warmly 
dressed in the house predisposes them to 
colds and lung trouble, and makes them 
generally delicate. Regulate the outside 
wraps to match temperature outdoors, but 
in the house where the temperature is 
fairly even, very warm dressing is not 
necessary. 

Babies should always wear high-necked 
and long-sleeved shirts for the first four 
or five months. After this, in the extreme 
heat of summer it is not necessary, and 
it is even allowable to take off the shirt 
if the child suffers from heat; but all ba- 
bies, until they are three or four years 



CLOTHING AND CARE 57 

old, should never be without an abdominal 
woolen binder night and day. When the 
child is old enough to perspire during the 
heat of summer, take off all his clothes 
except his binder and diaper. If the heat 
is extreme the entire toilet need only con- 
sist of a binder, diaper, and dress, the lat- 
ter entirely for appearance's sake, but no 
matter what the heat is, the binder must 
be left on the abdomen. At first, these 
binders are pieces of flannel torn off the 
straight way of the material and without 
hems, as they hurt the child. If the more 
fastidious consider the raw edge too plain, 
this can be pinked. After six weeks or so 
these should be given up and woven 
woolen ones used instead. Light weight 
for summer, and heavier for winter. If a 
child has any tendency to bowel trouble, 
either constipation or diarrhea, the band 
should be worn much longer than four or 
five years. Much of the intestinal trouble 
of adults could be cured by this simple but 
efficacious remedy. 

The diapers come next in importance. 
They can be made of outing flannel, which 
is sometimes used, and is of course better 



58 MOTHER AND BABY 

than nothing, but this and the fact that it 
is cheap are all that can be said for it. 
It does not wash well, for it grows harsh 
with much rubbing, and never looks well. 
Unless expense is a great item, it is not 
desirable. 

Cotton birdseye is preferred by some 
because it is rather inexpensive, does not 
absorb moisture so quickly as linen and is 
lighter in weight. These reasons make it 
very popular and extensively used. If, 
however, the expense of washing need 
not be considered, fine linen is by far the 
best. Because it absorbs the moisture 
readily, the supply will have to be larger, 
and the diapers should be washed and 
ironed many times before using for the 
baby, for the more linen is washed and 
ironed, the softer and smoother it be- 
comes. When it is used for the baby there 
is much less likelihood of chapped skin. 

Never put a rubber cloth on a child un- 
less to prepare him for some special oc- 
casion. There is a very nice stockinet 
called " stork cloth," which is made into 
drawers, and can be used if the baby is to 
be taken where changing the diapers is 



CLOTHING AND CARE 59 

out of the question, but this should never 
be used in the house for it is too heating. 
Have plenty of diapers. If economy must 
be practised, let it be in some other way. 
Wet diapers are exceedingly unattractive, 
and the most bewitching baby's charms 
are much impaired if he is not kept dry 
and clean. It requires a great deal of 
poise and fortitude to hold and admire a 
wet, unpleasant-smelling baby, and it al- 
ways seems very unkind to the child to 
have no more respect for him than to be 
careless in regard to something which so 
decidedly detracts from the pleasure he 
might otherwise give. 

The washing and care of the diapers is 
no small matter. No diaper should be 
used a second time unless it has been 
washed. In bottle-fed babies particu- 
larly, this is a big item; the urine is al- 
ways more abundant and has a stronger 
odor. When the diapers are changed, 
they should never be left anywhere un- 
covered. There are few things more of- 
fensive than wet diapers hung around to 
dry. The simplest way to manage it is to 
have two covered pails or cans, not un- 



60 MOTHER AND BABY 

like small garbage cans, which should be 
kept out of sight. Throw the wet dia- 
pers into one, and the soiled ones into the 
other, pour cold water into both pails with 
the addition of pearline into the pail with 
the soiled ones. Then keep the pails 
tightly covered and wash out the diapers 
every morning. The wet ones should be 
washed in hot soap suds, thoroughly 
rinsed, and then hung out in the sun. The 
soiled ones should be washed in the same 
way, and then boiled for fifteen minutes. 
Drying them in fresh air and sunlight is 
always far better, after which they should 
be ironed smooth. There should be 
enough so that it may not be necessary to 
use the freshly ironed ones the same day. 
Leaving them for twenty-four hours pre- 
cludes any possibility of putting them on 
damp and giving the baby a cold. That 
this requires much time and work there 
is no denying; nevertheless the very best 
care that can be given to the baby is none 
too good, and the results make it entirely 
worth while. 

Flannel skirts are also necessary, and 
should be of two weights, light and heav- 



CLOTHING AND CARE 61 

ier. The summer skirts can be made with 
cambric waists and have tapes to go over 
the shoulders, but the thicker ones for win- 
ter should have flannel waists with straps 
for the shoulders, so as to support the 
weight and not have it drag on the baby. 
These skirts should be made long enough to 
allow for turning up and pinning. It is so 
necessary that the feet and legs should be 
kept warm, and the circulation at first is so 
poor, that the child must be well protected 
or the feet will get cold. 

White skirts are not necessary for small 
babies, for there is little warmth in them 
and a good deal of weight. It is foolish 
to put anything on a small baby simply 
for looks. When he can walk, a white 
skirt may be added to the list of garments, 
but before that it should be omitted. 

There should be plenty of outing flannel 
wrappers; they are better than the ordi- 
nary slips for young babies and can be 
used for night dresses for several months. 

Simple slips with very little trimming 
are the most appropriate, the only require- 
ment being a plentiful supply, thai the 
baby may be always clean and dainty. 



62 MOTHER AND BABY 

Both the slips and the wrappers should 
be twenty-seven inches long. 

Worsted socks or booties are necessary, 
and should be worn even in summer un- 
less the feet are quite warm without them. 
As soon as the clothes are shortened, 
stockings should be worn as well as 
worsted socks. The stockings should be 
long and pinned to the diaper. Woolen or 
cashmere are best for the winter, but cot- 
ton will answer very well in the summer. 
Many people prefer short stockings as a 
matter of looks. In the heat of summer 
they will do very well, but as soon as it is 
cool, long stockings are better, and should 
be worn regardless of looks. The custom 
of making children wear socks in cool 
weather is little short of cruelty in this 
variable climate. Many disturbances of 
digestion and circulation can be laid to this 
foolish fashion of sacrificing comfort and 
good sense to looks. This also applies 
to children older than babies. Worsted 
socks or soft shoes may be used at first, 
the essential thing being warmth, of 
course, but as soon as a baby begins to 
stand on his feet, the shoes become a mat- 



CLOTHING AND CARE 63 

ter of importance. They must first of all 
be long enough. The feet of babies and 
young children grow very fast, and shoes 
that were long enough one month may be 
just too short the next. Never on any ac- 
count let a child wear a shoe the least frac- 
tion of an inch too short. Much of the 
trouble that adults have with the feet 
comes from carelessness on this point in 
childhood. 

The shoes should have wide toes to al- 
low the feet to come down flat, and be 
rather snug around the ankle to keep them 
from slipping. Many children need stiff- 
ening inside the shoe to hold the ankle 
straight. Consult the physician if the child 
turns his feet when walking. The remedy 
is generally simple in baby days, but if 
neglected it is harder to overcome the dif- 
ficulty. Little children should never step 
on cold flagstones unless the feet are well 
protected. If they are allowed to walk out- 
of-doors and are too small to wear heavy 
shoes, they should have rubbers large 
enough to slip on and off easily. The in- 
congruity of putting heavy woolen leggings 
on a child and allowing him to walk on the 



64 MOTHER AND BABY 

cold flags with thin shoes, is often seen, 
and is most productive of colds. 

The baby's clothes should be shortened 
by the third or fourth month if possible, 
though the best time for this will depend 
upon circumstances ; but by the time a child 
is three months old he needs greater free- 
dom to exercise his legs and develop his 
muscles. At this age he can lie on the bed 
and kick and amuse himself a good deal of 
the time. After this, long clothes are a 
nuisance, and an unnecessary weight to 
carry. If the baby is a normal one and 
grows as he should, no extra burden is 
needed, for he will be quite heavy enough 
for his mother or the nurse. 

In the matter of outside wraps, the es- 
sential thing is that the baby should be kept 
warm, but not perspire. For this reason, 
furs are not desirable as wraps for chil- 
dren. They are too heating. If children 
are allowed to perspire, bronchitis, pneu- 
monia, and all disorders find them an easy 
prey. This climate is so changeable that 
the only safe way is to carry an extra 
blanket to use if necessary. 

Babies have a marked predilection for 



CLOTHING AND CARE 65 

pulling off their mittens. The best way to 
circumvent this is to put the mittens on 
first and pin them with safety pins to the 
sleeves of the dress. By so doing they are 
more apt to be let alone until the wraps 
are removed. It is important to keep the 
hands warm as well as the feet, and active 
measures have to be resorted to or the 
baby will never have his hands covered. 
Veils are an abomination and should never 
be worn. If it is so cold that the baby ap- 
parently needs one over his face, he should 
be kept in the house, and not allowed to 
go out. Veils are a prolific cause of 
eczema on the face, as they become moist 
with the breath and then of course irritate 
the skin. If the hood of the carriage is not 
a sufficient protection and the baby's face 
chaps even if the day is not very cold or 
windy, rub the places where the skin is 
most sensitive with a little olive oil and 
bismuth. 

Always use soft water for bathing a 
baby with a sensitive skin. Lycopodium 
makes one of the best powders that can be 
used. Some people object to the color and 
the lack of odor, but if prepared with a 



66 MOTHER AND BABY 

little orris it lias a very delicate, sweet 
smell, and the color is really no objection, 
while the healing properties are such as to 
make it far superior to ordinary powders. 
Much has been said against the small 
baby carriages which have been in vogue 
of late, and with a good deal of justice. 
For ordinary use, they are only to be con- 
demned. It is impossible to have the child 
in a proper position in one, or to save him 
from every jar. Only heavy, easy car- 
riages are suitable for small babies who 
should always lie down in them. The 
nerves of babies are delicately poised, and 
they should never be bounced and bumped 
around. The carriages should be rather 
heavy, swing well on good springs, and the 
wheels should have rubber tires. If it is 
a question between no carriage or one of 
the small ones, it had better be no carriage, 
but let the baby be carried, thereby saving 
much fatigue and exhaustion to the nerves. 
In cold weather, if for any reason the baby 
is taken out of his carriage in order that 
his mother or the nurse may make a call 
or do some shopping, make provision of 
some sort to have the wraps warm when 



CLOTHING AND CARE 67 

the baby is put back into the carriage. If 
it is a call, the wraps may be carried into 
the house, but when shopping this may not 
be convenient. In this case a hot-water 
bag should be carried in order that there 
may be no danger of the baby's becoming 
chilled. Many cases of pneumonia have 
developed from this mistake, and it cer- 
tainly is a great risk to run . If it seems 
as though most things so far suggested 
were out of the reach of people of limited 
means, or, at least, only the most expensive 
things were approved, the answer is that 
in the end expensive things are the cheap- 
est; they wear longer and give the best 
return for the money. Anything that is a 
menace to the well-being of the child is 
likely in the end to be far more costly than 
one causing the spending of a little more 
money at first. 

Trains, trolleys, and all public convey- 
ances are not safe places for children. 
The same is true of shops where women and 
children are gathered in great numbers. 
At Christmas time, in the cities, in the 
crowded shops and cars there is always 
danger of contracting scarlet fever, meas- 



68 MOTHER AND BABY 

les, whooping cough or other contagious 
diseases. Not long ago the writer saw a 
foreign woman with two little children, 
both whooping and vomiting at intervals, 
cheek by jowl with many other children 
apparently well, on a trolley car returning 
from the pleasures of sight-seeing. There 
was absolutely no escape for the children 
in that car. 

In China smallpox is considered one of 
the children's diseases. The name trans- 
lated means "heavenly flowers," and it is 
quite as common there as whooping cough 
is here. On one occasion, when one of 
the missionaries from that country was 
here she was riding in a trolley car when 
a woman entered with a bundle in her 
arms. The peculiar odor attracted the 
missionary's attention, and leaning for- 
ward she gently drew aside the shawl which 
covered the bundle, to discover a baby lit- 
erally covered with the sores of smallpox. 
There was no way of knowing how many 
people, especially children, had been ex- 
posed that day. There is no question but 
that many epidemics are largely due to 
just this thing, women taking sick children 



CLOTHING AND CARE 69 

into public places where other children be- 
come the victims. 

For some unaccountable reason, some 
people seem to think that all children's dis- 
eases, chicken pox, whooping cough, scar- 
let fever, and measles are necessities, and 
the sooner children are through with them 
the better. There can be no more stupid 
fallacy than this. Children are more apt 
to catch these particular disorders than 
adults, and they are often prevalent at cer- 
tain times owing to carelessness or ignor- 
ance. But there is never a time when any 
one of the so-called children's diseases 
may not be a very serious, if not fatal, 
malady, with the exception perhaps of 
chicken pox. Many times when the cases 
are apparently very light, the after-effects 
are carried through life. Deafness, im- 
paired eyesight, affected throat or lungs, 
and kidney disorders are some of the pos- 
sible consequences of these same diseases. 

Never on any account let a child run any 
risk of exposure to any contagious disease 
if it can be avoided. It is true that it 
may turn out to be a light matter but the 
possibility of something much more seri- 



70 MOTHER AND BABY 

ous makes it unpardonable to run any un- 
necessary risk. It is not essential for chil- 
dren to have any of these diseases, and it 
is the wise mother who realizes the pos- 
sible danger and takes no chances. 

Babies and little children need the best 
care always. That many live with the poor- 
est kind of treatment is quite true ; and that 
many die from the same cause is also true, 
but that many more would live to grow up 
and become useful citizens if more intelli- 
gence were displayed in their management, 
is a self-evident fact. 

RECAPITULATION 

I. Use woolen shirts and bands. 

II. Keep abdomen protected night and day 
with binder. 

III. Avoid too heavy flannels. 

IV. Use diapers once only, then wash, dry in 
sunlight, and iron them. 

V. Cover baby's feet and legs with stockings 
and shoes, using short socks in warm weather 
only. 

VI. Never let baby put feet on ground in cold 
weather unless protected by rubbers. 

VII. See that hands and feet are always warm. 



CLOTHING AND CARE 71 

VIII. Use large, heavy carriage for babies and 
young children. 

IX. Never put a baby into cold wraps — carry 
hot-water bag if necessary, but avoid chilling a 
child. 

X. Avoid trolley cars, trains, and public places 
as much as possible, and never expose any child 
to contagious disease. 



CHAPTER IV 
FOOD FOR THE BABY 

The normal food for all little warm- 
blooded animals is their mother's milk. 
Mother Nature ordained this a long time 
ago, and no improvement on her method 
has yet been found. Little human animals 
are no exception to this rule. Any other 
device adopted for supplying them with 
nourishment is only a makeshift, and any 
baby who is deprived of his natural food 
is handicapped in a struggle often hard 
enough at best. 

Many women are not able to nurse their 
children because they do not appreciate the 
necessity for any preparation on their part 
to enable them to perform the task. Com- 
paratively few mothers deliberately refuse 
to do this because of the trouble or incon- 
venience, although it must be confessed 
there are some as unnatural as this. The 
more intelligent people become in this mat- 

72 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 73 

ter, the better the baby's chances are for 
having his natural rights. The necessary 
qualifications which make the ideal condi- 
tions are both mental and physical. If a 
woman is anxious to nurse her baby, and is 
willing to adjust her manner of living to 
the way best for accomplishing it, one great 
element of success has been attained. 

A woman with a baby ten days old was 
being remonstrated with for eating baked 
beans and cabbage. She had been in- 
dulging inordinately in these viands, and 
the baby had a terrible attack of colic. No 
amount of talking convinced her that it 
was wrong to do anything so detrimental 
to the child's health. She refused to deny 
herself anything she wanted, remarking 
that the child would grow accustomed to it. 

For the first three months, the baby did 
not grow well, and had many attacks of 
colic; after that he did better, but when 
he was fourteen months old a sharp attack 
of bowel trouble was too much for him, and 
he died. Just how much his mother's self- 
ishness had to do with his untimely death, 
of course no one can say, but that it played 
some part in his inability to resist when 



74 MOTHER AND BABY 

a hard test was applied is a self-evident 
fact. The history of many babies' lives 
is like this. 

The mother's diet, exercise, and sleep, in 
fact her entire manner of living, may have 
to be changed in order to bring about the 
proper conditions. The diet is so closely 
connected with the baby's that it has to be 
carefully regulated, and, as with the preg- 
nant woman, only easily digested foods 
should be taken, and all rich, highly sea- 
soned dishes entirely omitted. There is 
no escape for the mother during the first 
years after the children come, it means 
much sacrifice and self-denial. This is one 
of the great privileges of motherhood, and 
the willingness with which it is assumed 
largely determines the results. Emotional 
mothers do not make good nurses. Those 
who have an hysterical, uncontrollable tem- 
perament, or women who are unwilling or 
unhappy about nursing their babies can 
never do it well, or have happy, healthy 
babies. 

Sometimes cases are seen of women who 
are far from well who do nurse their babies 
successfully, and the children thrive, but 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 75 

these are exceptions — not the rule. The 
best nurses are healthy in both mind and 
body. 

In a poor Italian household a little bed- 
ridden cripple was practically the head of 
the family. He was the oldest of a large 
number of children, most of whom slept in 
his room with the father and mother. The 
latter was a tired, childish woman, with 
a most ungovernable temper. When the 
sixth baby came things were in a sorry 
state there. The child was puny, and fret- 
ted a great deal. Finally, after the baby 
was three or four months old, the little in- 
valid told the doctor that the baby cried 
so much at night he could not sleep, and it 
was evidently making him tired and nerv- 
ous. The doctor explained to the boy that 
his mother must learn to control her tem- 
per as every time she became fearfully 
angry her milk was affected and the poor 
baby had pains and could not help crying. 
The little fellow took it all in, for he was 
unusually intelligent, and said he would ex- 
plain it to his mother who could not under- 
stand English, and had to have the boy in- 
terpret for her. 



76 MOTHER AND BABY 

A short time after the boy was very for- 
lorn, and upon inquiry, the answer was 
that the baby had been very bad all night, 
and he could not sleep. The doctor asked, 
"Has your mother been fighting again with 
some one?" and the little fellow, who was 
always loyal to his mother, but so truth- 
ful that he could not possibly prevaricate, 
replied, hesitatingly, "Yes, she had a ter- 
rible time the day before with a neighbor." 
Just then the mother appeared, and the boy 
turned on her with his eyes blazing, saying, 
' * What did I tell you f You made the baby 
sick because you acted so; you have no 
right to make the baby sick. ' ' All this was 
in Italian, but he turned and explained 
what he was saying, adding naively, "I 
cannot make my mother understand how 
much depends upon her." There is no 
question that if a woman cannot control 
herself it is better that she should not at- 
tempt to nurse her child, for, as in the case 
of the Italian mother, the milk may become 
positively poisonous. Mothers have killed 
their children by nursing them after get- 
ting into uncontrollable passions, the milk 
having become so poisoned. 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 77 

Of course, if a mother lias a chronic dis- 
ease like tuberculosis, for instance, it is 
not proper for her even to attempt to nurse 
her children. In these cases, the food 
should be carefully prepared under a phy- 
sician's directions. 

The advisability of drinking beer, por- 
ter, or any form of stimulant to increase 
the supply of milk is questionable. 
Though often advised by physicians, it is 
certainly not the best way to accomplish 
the desired end, for while the quantity may 
be increased, the quality is not improved. 

A physician prescribed porter for a pa- 
tient who did not seem quite well, and it 
was feared that the baby would not thrive 
as he should. After this regime was 
adopted the baby began to droop and could 
not retain his milk. The supply of porter 
gave out, and while waiting to have it re- 
newed, the boy improved. When the por- 
ter was taken again, he was affected the 
same way; vomited his food, and became 
decidedly sick. Then the porter was 
stopped, and the baby began to improve 
immediately. For other reasons than this 
one given, the practice of drinking any- 



78 MOTHER AND BABY 

thing of this kind cannot be wise. The evil 
effects are far-reaching, and there are bet- 
ter ways of improving the milk supply. 
Many cases have been seen of nursing 
babies who would drink beer or even 
whisky with apparently great relish, a fact 
which makes it specially unwise to give 
it to a nursing mother. Too much impor- 
tance cannot be made of the necessity for 
regular exercise for the mother in the fresh 
air, and she should have plenty of easily 
digested food with milk in abundance to 
keep up the food supply for the baby. 
Until the baby is three days old, the diet 
for his mother should consist of milk, gruel, 
milk toast, and carefully cooked cereals. 
After her milk comes, she can have full 
diet, but nothing about which there is any 
question of fermentation. Such vegetables 
as cabbage, turnips, cauliflower, and toma- 
toes should not be given until the baby is 
four months old at least, and even then cer- 
tain things may cause discomfort and can- 
not be indulged in until the child is weaned. 
Though certain articles of diet disagree 
with some women, it does not necessarily 
follow that all other nursing women should 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 79 

be deprived of the same things, but it 
does mean that when it disagrees with her 
baby, no woman should eat anything be- 
cause she specially likes it, for during baby 
days the welfare of the child is the most 
important thing to be considered. 

"Worrying, fretful, or morbid tempera- 
ments always affect the milk. It is a well- 
known fact that great mental anxiety will 
cause the digestive apparatus to stop nor- 
mal work at once. This is shown time and 
again in nursing women who suddenly find 
themselves unable to nurse their babies 
because the mental balance has been dis- 
turbed. If a woman continually worries 
and frets, she is bound to have a fretful, 
whining baby. Here is another proof of 
the fact that the child's temperament is 
very largely in the hands of the parents, 
and that his condition of mind and body are 
very closely allied. 

On one occasion, a small baby was very 
ill, and it was deemed advisable to try a 
wet nurse; so at much inconvenience one 
was procured, and brought to the house 
late at night. The woman was a young, 
fine-looking foreigner, and the mother of 



80 MOTHER AND BABY 

the sick child was delighted at the prospect 
of having some food for her baby which 
could be retained. Her pleasure was 
short-lived, for the young woman was so 
frightened at coming among strangers, and 
her distress so great at leaving her own 
baby, that when she tried to nurse the sick 
baby her milk was entirely gone, and it 
was entirely out of the question to get any 
one else for several hours. Fortunately 
some new combination was found which the 
sick baby could retain, thus saving the 
day, or the result would have been serious. 
Nursing mothers often have to learn to 
take life easily before they can be great 
successes, and the entire experience from 
first to last means for any woman a long 
process of training, quite as much for her- 
self as for the child. 

The case of a baby who needs a wet nurse 
because his mother cannot nurse him, and 
no combination of modified milk can be 
found that will agree with him is fortu- 
nately rare, for a good wet nurse is almost 
an impossibility. If for any reason one 
has to be obtained, the physician should 
make the selection, as it must be done with 






FOOD FOR THE BABY 81 

great caution. All the rules for a regular, 
simple diet laid down for the mother should 
be most rigidly enforced in the case of the 
wet nurse. She should, of course, be tem- 
perate in habit, clean, and healthy. Her 
own baby should be nearly the age of the 
child to be nursed, and she should never 
try to nurse both of them. As a rule, for- 
eign-born women make the best nurses ; but 
too often living in different surround- 
ings, and eating unaccustomed food 
gives them indigestion and consequently 
causes their milk to disagree with the baby. 
It is desirable to have rather a young 
woman ; and both she and her baby should 
be examined by the physician before she 
is engaged, and her moral character should 
be investigated as well as her physical 
condition. It is found too often that they 
are unscrupulous and dishonest, giving the 
baby other food than breast-milk, and the 
habit of indulging in stimulants is very 
common. Unless the woman is known to 
be honest and respectable, the risk is very 
great and the results rarely satisfactory. 
She should, of course, have plenty of ex- 
ercise in the open air, a well-ventilated 



82 MOTHER AND BABY 

room, and an abundance of digestible, nu- 
tritious food. Nevertheless, it is well to 
remember that a woman taken from the 
lower walks of life, and given unrestrained 
opportunity to indulge freely in food to 
which she has been unaccustomed is very 
apt to eat too much, and to exercise too 
little. What has already been said about 
a mother not using beer or ale or porter 
to increase the milk supply applies with 
still greater force here. Never on any ac- 
count allow it to be given to a wet nurse. 
If she needs bracing up in this manner, 
she is not fit for the position. 

If by any chance a very superior person 
is found, and one apparently well quali- 
fied, a wise mother will never hand over the 
care of her baby entirely to her, but will 
exercise a careful supervision over every- 
thing that goes on, particularly at night. 
Perhaps another piece of advice is not 
amiss here ; if a wet nurse is engaged, she 
should not be expected to do hard work 
like the family washing, and if the baby 
does not thrive at once, it is quite natural, 
for such a change for the woman is bound 
to affect the milk. She should be given a 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 83 

chance, unless it is dangerous for the child, 
and not found fault with because the baby- 
has a pain, and cries a good deal for the 
first day or two after the new order has 
commenced. 

There is no objection to giving a nursing 
baby the bottle once a day after the first 
month or six weeks, and there are some ad- 
vantages. For one thing, many women are 
stronger and have better milk if allowed 
to sleep through the night. By giving the 
baby the bottle at five or six o 'clock in the 
morning, the mother may be materially 
benefited, and it does no harm to the/ 
baby. 

It is often a matter of great convenience 
for a woman to be able to leave her baby for 
several hours. If he is used to the bottle 
this is easily managed, and when the time 
comes to wean him it is comparatively 
simple to give the bottle twice a day, then 
three times, and so on until he takes it en- 
tirely. The process should be slow enough 
to enable the child to grow accustomed 
to the change. A month is a very good 
time to allow for weaning unless circum- 
stances make greater haste necessary. 



84 MOTHER AND BABY 

The age when a baby should be weaned de- 
pends upon circumstances — as a rule, a 
baby should not be breast-fed after he is 
a year old, even if the mother is healthy 
and the milk supply good, and it is gen- 
erally wiser to do this by the ninth or 
tenth month. Individual cases require dif- 
ferent treatment. No absolute rule can be 
given. If the child has good color, sleeps 
well for two or three hours after nursing, 
or, if awake, is quiet, good-natured, and 
apparently comfortable, the movements 
from the bowels normal, and he is gaining 
in weight, these are the signs by which any 
one may know that the baby is well nour- 
ished. The normal baby should double his 
weight in six months, and treble it in a 
year. Of course this varies somewhat. All 
children are not alike in the manner of 
gaining, but the increase should be com- 
paratively even. He should grow about 
eight inches the first year, or nearly three- 
quarters of an inch a month. Ordinary 
babies by the tenth or eleventh month 
should begin to have something more than 
milk — gruel, oatmeal, beef juice, etc., are 
necessary — but milk should be the princi- 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 85 

pal article of diet through the second year. 
Hard crackers are much relished when the 
teeth begin to come; these are better if 
they are not sweet. Well-cooked cereal 
and mutton broth can be given to a child a 
year old. When the mixed diet begins, the 
bottle should be taken away entirely, and 
all milk should be given in a small cup. It 
is a great mistake to allow a child to drink 
from a bottle after he is a year old. 

Something must be said about the 
thoughtlessness and cruelty of giving little 
children tastes of different articles of food 
to entertain the adult members of the fam- 
ily. Very small babies are apt to be ex- 
empt from this practice, though not always. 
A very proud, smiling young mother was 
showing off her firstborn at clinic, a fat, 
red-cheeked baby in long clothes. In an- 
swer to the question if she gave him any- 
thing besides breast-milk, replied, "Oh, 
yes, ma'am; ladyfingers and beer, and he 
likes it awful much." 

As soon as a child is old enough to begin 
to notice, there seems to be a peculiar 
temptation to feed him potatoes, meat, 
bread, or anything that the family eats. 



86 MOTHER AND BABY 

Tastes of tea, coffee, and even beer are also 
tried, with the result that very soon chil- 
dren learn to like these beverages. 

A very beautiful boy who could just walk 
was toddling around the dining-room beg- 
ging for the last drops of coffee in the bot- 
tom of the cups ; and the various members 
of the family were giving him little drinks, 
because it was so "cunning" to see his evi- 
dent pleasure. Later, the same child was 
asking for the last drops of whisky which 
some member of the family had. On re- 
monstrating with the various ones for their 
foolishness — to call it nothing stronger — 
the answer was, "Oh, he only has a little, 
and he looks so sweet when he drinks it ! " 
It is not surprising to learn that this partic- 
ular child had several convulsions. What 
the future holds for him, no one knows, but 
a poor ancestry added to his most lament- 
able lack of training promises little good. 
And the pity is that the children have no 
fair start, but are ruined before they know 
their right hand from their left. Tea and 
coffee both contain a very strong heart 
stimulant and alkaloid, caffeine. Added to 
the caffeine in tea is another disastrous 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 87 

substance, tannin, which, if taken in large 
enough quantities, will corrode the mucous 
lining of the stomach. Inveterate tea- 
drinkers have the worst form of nervous 
disorders and the habit is a very hard one 
to cure. That coffee is a tremendous 
stimulant, may be readily imagined when 
it is known that it is one of the most im- 
portant antidotes to be given in case of 
poisoning by morphine, that most powerful 
of narcotics. Of course the doses given to 
children are small, but why give a child 
small doses of poison, which he does not 
need, because he looks sweet, or to amuse 
other people ? It seems as though any one 
with the least bit of common sense would 
never allow such heartlessness. And when 
it comes to drink stronger than tea and 
coffee, words fail to express the feeling of 
abhorrence which any right-minded man 
or woman must have. 

An official of the United States Govern- 
ment boasted that his six-year-old son could 
drink more whisky and champagne than 
many an adult, and that the night before 
he was relating this outrageous boast the 
same child had rolled under the table in a 



88 MOTHER AND BABY 

regular drunken stupor. And the father 
was seemingly proud of this fact. There 
is no physician who has not seen more or 
less of these cases — children with all de- 
grees of nervous disorders, where tea, 
coffee, and other things have been given 
them from early baby days. No further 
proof is needed than a visit to some of the 
institutions in our cities, for backward and 
feeble-minded children, and hear the his- 
tory of these children related. Very often 
one of the predisposing factors is the re- 
sult of the stimulants given during baby- 
hood, which cause the sensitive nervous 
system to succumb. 

A large number of children in this coun- 
try have to be brought up on the bottle, a 
fact to be deplored, but nevertheless true. 
It is always more difficult to manage these 
cases, for a bottle-fed baby is more apt to 
have digestive disturbances, and is an 
easier prey for any illness. Much of the 
difficulty would be eliminated, though, if 
proper precautions were exercised about 
handling and preparing the milk, and clean- 
liness of the bottles and nipples. 

To have anv intelligent idea how to pre- 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 89 

pare milk for a baby there must be some 
understanding of the various ingredients, 
and how these compare with human milk. 
Because cow's milk is most available, it is 
generally used as the substitute for the 
mother's milk. 

Milk is composed of fat, sugar, proteids, 
salts, and water. All these elements are 
necessary, and we cannot expect to bring 
up a healthy baby unless all these are in 
his food. The fat is needed for the growth 
of the bones, nerves, and flesh. Sugar also 
makes fat and heat. The proteids are 
needed for the blood, the organs, and mus- 
cles. Salts are needed particularly for the 
growth of the bones. Water is needed to 
keep these in solution, and is necessary to 
enable the body to get rid of the waste 
matter. 

analysis 
Human Milk 

Fat % 4.00 

Sugar 7.00 

Proteids 1.50 

Salts 0.20 

Water 87.30 

% 100.00 



90 MOTHER AND BABY 

Cow's Milk 

Fat % 3.50 

Sugar 4.30 

Proteids 4.00 

Salts 0.70 

Water 87.50 



% 100.00 



At a glance it will be seen that none of 
the ingredients of the two kinds of milk 
just match, and as the point is to make the 
substitute as nearly like the original as 
possible, there will have to be some alter- 
ation. These alterations are made by 
combining cream [fat], full milk, that is 
the cream shaken up with the milk [pro- 
teids], and sugar and water in various pro- 
portions, and the result is modified milk. 
The average cow's milk contains approxi- 
mately 4% of fat, 4% of proteids, and 
4% of sugar. More than twice as much 
proteids as human milk, and much more 
indigestible, and about half as much sugar. 
It is matter of great importance to change 
this milk, for few children can digest it 
unless it is modified. The proteids then, 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 91 

or curds, in the cow's milk must be diluted, 
the sugar and the fat increased. The in- 
gredients in cow's milk which cause most 
of the trouble for the bottle-fed baby are 
the proteids or curds — and the fact that 
there is so much more of this, and of dif- 
ferent quality, makes it necessary not only 
to reduce it a great deal for ordinary feed- 
ings, but wherever it is given to a baby 
who is not accustomed to it, as a new baby 
or one who has been nursed, and for some 
reason must have other nourishment, the 
milk must be made weak. This is a most 
important point to remember, because the 
baby's stomach was not intended for this 
food and it has to become accustomed to it 
gradually or there will be trouble. A weak 
food can be easily strengthened with no 
disturbance to the child, but if the food is 
too strong there is bound to be woe. In 
starting then with a new baby three days 
old the following is a very good formula. 
Though it may need some modification to 
meet special cases, it will be found fairly 
suitable for the average child which weighs 
from 7 to 7y 2 pounds : 



92 MOTHER AND BABY 

Milk (full) 1 oz. 

Cream 2 oz. 

Water 21 oz. 

Sugar (cane) 3 teaspoonfuls 

or Sugar of milk 6 teaspoonfuls 

If the bowels act properly, the baby 
sleeps well, does not vomit his milk or 
have colic, in three days the mixture can be 
strengthened by the addition of 4 tea- 
spoonfuls of cream, and 4 of milk. If this 
goes well, at the end of three more days 
the mixture can be strengthened by the 
same amount in the same way, and also a 
little more food may be given at each feed- 
ing. Half an ounce or 4 teaspoonfuls is 
enough of an increase at a time. The 
stomach at first has the capacity of about 
one ounce, at two weeks it has about dou- 
ble; after this the increase is more grad- 
ual, so that at six months it is about 
six ounces. The amount to give at first 
for each feeding is one ounce. After a 
week the amount may be increased to 
iy 2 ounces, aud in another ten days 
two ounces may be given. No absolute 
rule can be given as to the exact amount 
to give at a feeding, nor just when to 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 93 

make the food stronger. These ques- 
tions must be settled by the needs of each 
particular baby, but the changes in amount, 
and the increase of strength of the food are 
made more rapidly the first month than 
later. It is not uncommon to use the same 
formula from the time a child is two or 
three months old until he is weaned, the 
amount of each feeding and the intervals 
only being changed to meet the growing- 
needs of the child. It is usually wiser to 
make the food somewhat weaker during the 
hot summer months, and this is done gen- 
erally by giving less fat or cream. The in- 
dications that the baby is thriving, which is 
the guide for continuing any formula, are 
that he sleeps quietly two or three hours 
after his meal, that he is happy and con- 
tented, gains in weight, and has normal 
movement from the bowels every day. On 
the other hand, if these evidences are not 
seen, but instead he shows any of the fol- 
lowing, he is not having sufficient food. If 
he clutches the bottle, drains it eagerly, 
cries when it is taken away, and cries half 
an hour or an hour before feeding time he 
is showing plainly that he is hungry, and 



94 MOTHER AND BABY 

wants more to eat. The child should be 
weighed regularly each week, and all the 
peculiarities of sleep, crying, and move- 
ment of the bowels noted. The intelli- 
gence which is displayed in these matters 
marks the difference between a good and a 
poor nurse. 

Not infrequently the formula used is 
not suited to some particular baby, and 
needs to be changed. Here again only a 
few suggestions can be given as to the 
possible cause of the trouble, but these, 
if rightly understood, will help to remove 
the difficulty. If the child does not gain 
in weight without any special signs of in- 
digestion, increase the proportion of all 
the ingredients; if he has habitual colic, 
diminish the proteids, and also give a 
weaker food at night ; for frequent vomit- 
ing just after eating, reduce the quantity ; 
for the regurgitation of sour masses of 
food, reduce the fat, and proteids, too, if 
necessary; for obstinate constipation, in- 
crease both fat and proteids. Before 
making any change in the formula for the 
food, see that the baby has plenty of water 
to drink every day. The importance of 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 95 

giving babies water can hardly be over- 
estimated. It is one of the surest and easi- 
est ways to overcome constipation. One 
mother complained that her baby cried 
a good deal, and seemed to be constipated. 
When asked if the baby had plenty of 
water to drink, replied, "Oh, yes. She 
always has the wash cloth to suck every 
day when she has her bath ! ' ' 

Great care should be given to the selec- 
tion of the milk. It should never be 
bought in the bulk, for it is impossible to 
keep it clean, and that makes it entirely 
out of the question. It should come from 
a clean, sanitary dairy, the cows should 
be healthy, and all those who handle it 
should be inspected to be sure that. nothing 
which could contaminate it comes in con- 
tact with it. Milk from a mixed dairy is 
better than from one cow. The milk from 
a highly bred Jersey or Alderney, is too 
rich. The manner of transportation is 
also important. It should be in glass bot- 
tles, tightly sealed, and warranted to be 
thoroughly hygienic. In the city it should 
not be used after it has been kept in the 
house more than twelve hours in the sum- 



96 MOTHER AND BABY 

mer, nor twenty-four hours in the winter. 
Then, too, the method of preparing it for 
the baby is a matter of great moment, for 
not only must the formula be carefully 
and exactly followed, but the manner of 
preparing it, the receptacle that it is put 
in, and finally the kind of ice-chest used 
are all matters to be considered. 

A sufficient quantity should be made in 
the morning to last for twenty-four hours. 
From two bottles which have been allowed 
to stand until the cream has risen, the 
food should be made. According to the 
formula given, one ounce is taken from 
one bottle in which the cream has been 
shaken up with the milk — this is full milk 
— and from the other bottle only the cream 
is used, two ounces being taken. In order 
to be exact, it is easier to use a small 
ounce dipper which comes for the pur- 
pose. Mix the milk and cream together, 
add twenty-one ounces of water which has 
been boiled, and dissolve the sugar in this. 
Then pour the entire mixture into a clean 
receptacle, cover tightly, and put it into 
the refrigerator. That the refrigerator 
should be absolutely clean goes without 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 97 

saying, and yet, spoiled milk owing to a 
faulty refrigerator is to be blamed for 
many an acute attack of indigestion. The 
compartments of the refrigerator should 
be so arranged that the bottles of milk 
are either in contact with the ice or very 
near it, and the supply of ice should be 
abundant. Often the amount of ice is so 
small, and the bottle so far away, that 
the temperature of the milk is never be- 
low 60° or 65°. To be really effective, 
the milk should be kept at a temperature 
not over 50°. In order to insure this, the 
temperature should be tested with a ther- 
mometer from time to time. Next to the 
bottles used, the refrigerator is the one 
thing which should receive the closest at- 
tention. 

Not the least important in this great 
subject is the care of the bottles. If they 
are not in a proper condition it is of lit- 
tle avail to have "certified" milk, or to 
take any precaution, in fact. No one will 
ever know how much of the infant mor- 
tality is caused by dirty bottles, but that 
it is a great factor in the death rate is 
self-evident. 



98 MOTHER AND BABY 

All the bottles should be washed with 
hot water and soap and boiled every day. 
Afterward, they should be covered and 
kept free from any dirt. Wide-mouthed 
bottles with no creases are the best. 
There should be no complicated bottle or 
nipple, and everything should be as sim- 
ple as possible. Absolute cleanliness is 
the one essential, and the simpler the mech- 
anism of everything used, the easier it will 
be to have this. 

The hands of the nurse should be per- 
fectly clean, and a brush used to wash the 
bottles. New nipples should be boiled for 
five minutes, but after this they need not 
be boiled often, for they soon become use- 
less. After using, they should be carefully 
rinsed in cold water and kept in a covered 
glass containing a solution of borax or 
boracic acid. At least once a day they 
should be turned wrong side out and thor- 
oughly washed, just as the bottles are, with 
warm water and soap. A brush should 
be used for this, and it should be clean, 
of course. It is a very good plan to have 
as many bottles as there are to be feed- 
ings. The amount of milk to be used for 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 99 

each time is put into separate bottles, and 
absorbent cotton is used for stoppers. 
No bottle must be used a second time un- 
less thoroughly washed — this rule must 
never be violated. After the food mixture 
has been prepared, and put into the bot- 
tles or whatever receptacles are used, it 
must be cooled rapidly, first by letting the 
bottles stand in tepid water, then in cold 
water, and afterward placed on the ice. 
If for any reason the milk has been Pas- 
teurized or sterilized, this should have 
been done before cooling. 

Each bottle as it is needed should be 
taken from the ice-chest and put into a 
pitcher containing enough warm water to 
entirely cover the milk. After it is warm, 
shake the milk thoroughly, adjust the nip- 
ple, but see that the hole in the bottom of 
the nipple is only large enough to allow 
the milk to come out slowly. If there is 
any question about the temperature of 
the milk, pour a few drops on the wrist, 
or into a spoon and taste. Never let the 
nurse or any one else put the nipple in 
her mouth to make the test. The water 
that is used to heat the milk should be 



100 MOTHER AND BABY 

between 98° and 105°. Use a thermom- 
eter for this, to be exact. The nurse should 
hold the baby while he is feeding, and the 
baby should finish in twenty minutes. 
Never let a child form the habit of sleep- 
ing with the nipple in his mouth. Keep 
him awake till he has finished, and then 
take the bottle away altogether. After a 
child has been fed, never play with him, 
leave him alone, let him lie quietly, and 
disturb him as little as possible. 

Milk, when carefully handled, contains 
many germs, and if carelessly handled the 
number is enormous. While most of these 
are quite harmless, simply causing the 
milk to sour, occasionally they are the 
germs of scarlet fever, diphtheria, typhoid 
fever, and many forms of diarrhea. If, 
then, there is any question about the source 
of the supply, or if the weather is too hot 
to keep it and there is no way of obtain- 
ing ice, something must be done, as it is 
too serious to trifle with such conditions. 
By heating the milk to a temperature of 
212°F. and keeping it at this for one or 
one and one-half hours it is made sterile, 
or is "sterilized milk." It is safe to use 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 101 

milk treated in this way if kept on the 
ice for two or three weeks. Sterilized milk 
is always more indigestible than ordinary 
milk and is constipating, and it has to be 
modified the same as milk which has not 
been sterilized. Under no circumstances 
is it to be used for a long time. Children 
are never strong that have been fed exclu- 
sively on milk so prepared; the nutritive 
properties are so changed as to make it an 
impossible food for continuous use. It is 
often a factor in scurvy. Nevertheless, it 
is useful in epidemics, or on journeys when 
satisfactory milk cannot be procured. By 
heating milk for thirty minutes at 155° F. 
it is "Pasteurized," and this temperature 
is sufficient to kill the germs of the ordi- 
nary diseases before mentioned. It is not 
constipating nor is the taste of it affected, 
but there is a chemical change so that 
fresh, pure milk is always better for a 
baby, and much to be preferred to any 
method which changes the composition. 
Pasteurized milk is used in many cases 
for long periods of time with no apparent 
ill affects, but if the supply can be guaran- 
teed to be proper it is better not to tamper 



102 MOTHER AND BABY 

with the natural state. Pasteurized milk 
will keep on the ice two or three days, 
and while the living germs are destroyed 
by a temperature of 155° F. there are many 
undeveloped germs or spores which are not 
destroyed, and which grow into living 
germs under favorable conditions. It is 
perfectly possible to have milk so dirty, 
or old and contaminated that neither ster- 
ilizing nor Pasteurizing will render it fit 
for use. A point to be remembered about 
Pasteurized milk is that it must be cooled 
rapidly before it is put in the refrigerator. 
Never let it stand in the room, or put it 
near the ice when warm. If the milk is 
cooled in the room, or in the ice-box it re- 
quires from two to four hours to do it, and 
meanwhile many undeveloped germs may 
mature and spoil the keeping properties. 
To cool rapidly, put the pitcher or bottles 
into cold water, and change the water of- 
ten, or add cold water to it; by so doing 
the milk will cool in ten or twenty min- 
utes. 

There is another prepared milk which 
at times is very useful, viz., peptonized 
milk, or milk with the proteids partially 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 103 

digested. Occasionally a very young baby 
is unable to digest the curds, so peptonized 
milk is given until he has learned to do 
his own digesting. A digestive agent is 
put into a powder called peptogenic milk 
powder and this is put into tubes or tab- 
lets. The milk is peptonized in the follow- 
ing manner. Into a tablespoonful of milk 
the powder is put and well rubbed up. 
This is put into the bottle or pitcher with 
the plain or modified milk, and the whole 
is shaken up together. The bottle is then 
put into a large pitcher containing water 
heated to about 110°F., or as warm as will 
bear the hand comfortably, and left for 
ten or twenty minutes if the milk is to be 
partially peptonized; for two hours, if it 
is to be completely peptonized. If this 
is done for only ten minutes there is no 
taste to the milk, but at the end of twenty 
minutes it begins to be bitter, and for any 
but very small babies cannot be used fre- 
quently. 

Completely peptonized milk may be used 
for a few days or even longer; partially 
peptonized milk may be used for a longer 
period, but not indefinitely, and should be 



104 MOTHER AND BABY 

left off gradually by shortening the time 
of peptonizing and diminishing the amount 
of powder used. This preparation should 
be used only with the advice of a physician. 
It is possible that an emergency may 
arise when it may be excusable to use one 
of the numerous proprietary foods with 
which the markets are flooded, but the 
cases are few and far between. As a reg- 
ular diet, they are undeniably deleterious. 
Physicians very generally concur in the 
opinion that the satisfactory, artificially 
fed baby is the one who has had, not ster- 
ilized or Pasteurized, but straight, clean 
modified cow's milk, always rightly pre- 
pared. And it is unusual to find a baby 
who cannot thrive on this diet. It some- 
times takes patience to modify it just 
right, but it is quite possible to do it. The 
trouble, though, that is caused by dirt and 
carelessness will never be known — for one 
or the other of these two evils is what causes 
the vast majority of illnesses to which 
babies are prone, and the afflicted chil- 
dren are found in all walks of life. There 
are many intelligent people who never 
realize that thev can only do the correct 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 105 

thing for the baby by taking great care 
about the cleanliness of the refrigerator, 
and by seeing that the milk is not left 
standing in a hot kitchen for two or three 
hours, and that it is properly covered when 
put in the ice-box, and that no irregular 
thing of any kind is allowed. 

Indigestion was brought on in one case 
because the nurse always brought up the 
bottle containing the baby's early morning 
meal, and let it stand all night in a warm 
room, to avoid going downstairs after it 
when she wanted it. It is rarely safe to 
trust the preparation and care of the food 
entirely to an ordinary servant, and all 
servants need some supervision. 

When women realize that the great ma- 
jority of deaths in baby days are caused 
by digestive disturbances, and these dis- 
turbances come almost entirely from care- 
lessness or ignorance, things will improve. 
It is appalling to see how casually this 
subject is treated by so many, many peo- 
ple, and the hopelessness of it is that they 
seem perfectly incapable of grasping the 
facts and comprehending the purport of 
it all. The greatest of all the factors 



106 MOTHER AND BABY 

here is cleanliness; absolute cleanliness 
for the milk supply, the bottles, nipples, 
brushes, receptacles, hands, and refrigera- 
tors, and when this fact is mastered the 
rest is easy. 

RECAPITULATION 

I. The mother's milk is the proper food for 
the baby. Everything else is a makeshift. 

II. The mother's manner of living, sleep, ex- 
ercise, and diet should be carefully regulated to 
this end. 

III. The mother should willingly and gladly 
do this, and learn, if necessary, to control her 
emotions, not to worry, and to take life easily. 
A fretful, morbid temperament means a fretful, 
whining baby. 

IV. No woman with any chronic disorder like 
tuberculosis should try to nurse her baby. 

V. Do not drink ale, beer, or any stimulant to 
increase the milk supply; instead, eat proper 
food, exercise in the fresh air, and drink milk in 
abundance. 

VI. If it is deemed best to have a wet nurse, 
the physician should select her, and the nurse's 
baby should be of the same age as the child 
whom she is to feed. The same rules for hygienic 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 107 

living which apply to the mothers apply here. 
She should be carefully watched. 

VII. It is quite proper to give a nursing bot- 
tle once a day after the baby is a month or six 
weeks old. 

VIII. The ninth or tenth month is usually a 
very suitable time to wean a baby. Each case 
must be judged according to the particular baby 
in question. 

IX. Allow plenty of time to do this — a month 
is none too long to accustom the baby's stomach 
to the exclusive diet of cow's milk. 

X. After the tenth or eleventh month, broth, 
gruel, etc. may be given, though milk is the staple 
article of food during the second year. 

XI. As a rule, no baby should be nursed after 
the twelfth month, and no child should be al- 
lowed to drink from the bottle after this time. 
He can drink from a cup quite well. 

XII. Never allow a baby to have "tastes" of 
tea, coffee, or any viands which the family eat. 
It is pernicious. 

XIII. Cow's milk must be modified to be as 
nearly like mother's milk as possible. The pro- 
teids must be diluted, the fat and the sugar in- 
creased. 

X I V. When cow's milk is given to the baby 
Cor the first time, always have the preparation 
weak. It. is ;i simple matter to make it stronger 



108 MOTHER AND BABY 

when the baby's stomach has grown accustomed 
to it. 

XV. Whatever formula is used, be exact about 
preparing the food, and give the baby plenty of 
fresh, pure water every day. 

XVI. Exercise great care about the selection 
of the milk used, and that it is prepared, and 
transported in a thoroughly hygienic manner. 

XVII. In preparing the food, always mix the 
full milk and cream together, then add the water 
(boiled) and sugar. Prepare a sufficient quan- 
tity for twenty-four hours at a time. 

XVIII. Have the refrigerator, and all utensils 
perfectly clean. 

XIX. No bottle should be used a second time 
without being washed thoroughly, and all the 
bottles should be boiled once a day. 

XX. New nipples should be boiled before us- 
ing. After this they should be washed each 
time, and turned inside out, washed with hot 
water and soap with a brush, then kept in a 
covered glass jar in a boracic acid solution. 

XXI. The milk after being modified should be 
cooled quickly before it is put on the ice, and 
Pasteurized milk also, should be treated in the 
same way. 

XXII. "When the milk is wanted, heat by plac- 
ing the bottle in a pitcher of warm water heated 
from 95° to 105° F. See that the opening in the 



FOOD FOR THE BABY 109 

nipple is only large enough for the milk to run 
slowly, and never allow any one to test the heat 
by putting the nipple in the mouth. 

XXIII. Heating milk from one to one hour 
and a half at a temperature of 212° F., sterilizes 
it. In times of epidemics, or far journeys this 
process is valuable, but it should never be used 
for a regular diet. 

XXIV. Pasteurized milk is heated for thirty 
minutes at a temperature of 155° F., and is use- 
ful if the milk supply is questionable. Get pure, 
fresh milk as soon as possible, for no alteration 
equals the original. 

XXV. Peptogenic milk is useful for a very 
limited period, and partially peptonized milk can 
be used longer, but neither of them should be 
kept up indefinitely, and the latter should be 
stopped gradually as soon as the baby can digest 
his own meals. 



CHAPTER V 

BATHS FOR THE BABY 

Plenty of baths are as essential as plenty 
of air, and from the first day of life till 
the last, the bath is most important. It 
stimulates the skin, strengthens the mus- 
cles, and is a material adjunct to health. 
The first few baths for the baby must be 
given in the nurse's lap until the cord 
has dropped off, and the cicatrix has 
pretty well healed. The temperature of 
the water should not be above 100 °F. and 
after two weeks may be reduced to 98 °F. 
The temperature of the room should be 
70°, and it seems hardly necessary to say 
that there should be no draughts; if it is 
possible to give the bath before an open 
fire, so much the better. Soft water or 
rain water is preferable, for it is less ir- 
ritating to the skin, while for a young baby, 
the water should be boiled. Soft water is 
no 



BATHS FOR THE BABY 111 

better for any skin, and can be used with 
much comfort long after baby days are 
over. The nurse should wear a flannel 
apron, of which the most satisfactory 
kind is made from two small blankets with 
the ends sewed together, thus making one 
long blanket; strings are sewed to the 
seam, and when tied around the waist will 
allow the nurse to spread one blanket on 
her lap for the baby to lie on, while the 
other can be thrown over him, thus avoid- 
ing any exposure to colds. 

Wash the face first and dry it, then 
soap the head and wash carefully behind 
the ears and in the creases in the neck, 
which must be very well done with fat 
babies. All the creases must be thor- 
oughly dried, and dusted with powder. 
Care should be exercised about the soft 
spot on the top of the head. It is no 
economy to use cheap things for the baby; 
they are always the most expensive in the 
end. Fine soap, even the most expensive, 
is none too good. Castile and Ivory soap 
are both pure, but they are somewhat 
harsh, and leave an odor not altogether 
pleasant. There is a liquid soap made of 



112 MOTHER AND BABY 

palm and olive oils which is very smooth 
and non-irritating. 

After the first bath or two only little 
soap is needed; all that is necessary is 
enough to insure cleanliness. By the time 
the baby is two weeks old he is ready for 
the tub. After his face and body have 
been washed, take him by the heels with 
one hand, supporting the head and back 
with the other hand and arm, dip him into 
the tub, which should contain a generous 
supply of water, so that he will be entirely 
covered, then rinse him off, only keeping 
him in long enough to accomplish this thor- 
oughly. After this, roll him up in a towel 
or blanket and pat him until he is dry, 
taking care to dry thoroughly between the 
ringers and toes. If the baby is put into 
the tub from the beginning, he will never 
be afraid of the water, and the slight shock 
he receives is good for him. By the time 
he is six months old, the temperature of 
the water should have been reduced to 
90° F., and in summer it can be even 
cooler. 

Milk crust, that disagreeable brown crust 
so often seen on children's heads, is due 



BATHS FOR THE BABY 113 

to an accumulation of oil and dirt. It is 
most unsightly, and comes from lack of 
proper care. Washing the head daily is 
necessary, unless the crust has been al- 
lowed to form, in which case it may be 
necessary to consult the physician. At the 
first appearance of any brown spots, use 
olive oil freely, rubbing it carefully into 
the scalp, and the next day wash the head 
with warm water and soap. 

Continue this until the scalp is clean, but 
do not try to comb the crust off with a fine- 
tooth comb or anything of the kind. A 
daily washing will be sufficient. On the 
other hand, if the crust is allowed to de- 
velop, it may become eczematous, and in 
this case the doctor must give advice for 
the treatment. 

The mouth should be washed out every 
day with a soft piece of linen or absorbent 
cotton wound round the finger, and wet 
with boracic acid solution. Rub very 
gently all around the mouth; by so doing, 
and keeping it clean, the digestion is much 
better. This should be done as faithfully 
as though there were teeth to be washed. 
The nose should also be kept clean. Have 



114 MOTHER AND BABY 

plenty of wooden toothpicks and absorbent 
cotton, and wind a small piece of cotton 
on the end of the toothpick, wet it, and 
clean the nose thoroughly. Neglect of this 
part of the toilet may lead to mouth- 
breathing, a condition to be carefully 
guarded against. A point to be noticed 
with a young baby, in order that he may be 
handled as little as possible, is that he can 
be rolled from side to side, and all unneces- 
sary pressure on the naked body avoided, 
for the least rough handling, though unin- 
tentional, may do much harm. 

Whenever the baby's toilet is to be 
made, the nurse should begin by giving 
her own hands a careful scrubbing. It is 
by no means a light thing to put a finger 
which is not immaculate into a child's 
mouth, hence the suggestion. Some physi- 
cians prefer a sponge bath in the morning 
for a baby, and a tub bath at night. There 
is no question but that a bath in the tub 
induces sleep, so that if the baby is not a 
specially quiet sleeper it is better to bathe 
him in this manner. In hot weather, it 
will do no harm to sponge him off several 
times a day ; in fact it will help him endure 



BATHS FOR THE BABY 115 

weather which might otherwise make him 
sick — for little babies feel the heat greatly. 
If there is not time for many baths, bath- 
ing the hands and wrists with cold water 
is very refreshing. This can be done re- 
peatedly, and often will keep a child cool 
and quiet who would otherwise be fussing 
and fretful. 

A plentiful supply of water (not ice 
water) to drink is also a great help. 

There is another point of great import- 
ance to remember; that is, rubbing the baby 
every day. After the bath rub the hands 
down the spine, gently at first, but gradu- 
ally using more pressure, until the back 
has a healthy red glow. Any lubricant can 
be used; alcohol, one part, olive oil, two 
parts, and salt enough to give a little ad- 
ditional friction. This is beneficial in sev- 
eral ways, and very soothing. It stirs up 
the circulation, quiets the nerves and 
strengthens the spine, and for delicate 
babies often works wonders. Some healthy 
babies with little provocation have prickly 
heat, which causes itching and much dis- 
comfort. Give a bran bath for this, and 
use no soap. A cupful of bran tied up in 



116 MOTHER AND BABY 

a gauze bag and suspended in the water 
until it has a milky appearance will be 
found very soothing. Bicarbonate of soda 
(baking soda), two tablespoonfuls to a 
gallon of water, will allay itching of the 
skin. A starch bath, half a cup of raw 
starch added to the water, is soothing to 
an easily irritated skin, but in giving any 
kind of a bath to allay itching, the baby 
should never be rubbed dry, simply rolled 
up in a towel and gently patted till the 
moisture is absorbed. 

One of the surest ways to keep a child 
from taking cold, aside from having him 
kept in a cool room, especially when he 
is asleep, is a cold bath in the morning, 
special care being taken to rub the back, 
chest, and throat until red. The child 
should stand in a tub containing just 
enough warm water to cover his feet. 
Then fill a large sponge with cold water 
and squeeze over his body two or three 
times, and rub him until he is aglow. This 
may be done when a child is three years 
old, and even as young as two years. For 
infants the temperature should be 65° to 



BATHS FOR THE BABY 117 

70°, but for a child two or three years, 
it can be 50° to 55°. 

Scratching or rubbing an irritated sur- 
face always makes matters worse. Be- 
cause of this tendency, many compara- 
tively small beginnings have developed 
into very troublesome skin lesions, un- 
sightly in appearance and hard to remedy. 

The skin of a baby is very sensitive, and 
needs wise and careful care. Absolute 
cleanliness is necessary, and that means a 
free use of water, and careful drying of 
the skin. The diapers should be changed 
as soon as they are wet, for the acidity 
of the urine will cause chafing. The oppos- 
ing folds of skin should be separated and 
washed and powdered each time, especially 
with fat babies. It is an easy thing to 
bring about severe skin-lesions in a per- 
fectly healthy, normal baby, by neglecting 
to wash him properly. On the other hand, 
the right care will as effectually prevent 
this state of affairs, and is decidedly worth 
trying. A sponge should never be used 
upon the body of a baby. It is unsanitary, 
and cannot by any possibility be made 



118 MOTHER AND BABY 

clean except by boiling, and that process 
wrecks the sponge which, as some one has 
truly said, would be the very best thing 
that could happen to it. A clean piece of 
linen is the only suitable wash-cloth, as it 
can be renewed or washed easily. Have 
one cloth for the face and another for the 
body. 

Before leaving this subject, there is a 
phase which will have to be mentioned be- 
cause of the evils which may result from 
neglect of it. In babies of both sexes, 
great care should be given to the external 
genitals. For little girls, washing with a 
piece of linen, using boiled water and soap, 
is all that is necessary, and this, of course, 
should be done every day. If there is any 
discharge, boracic acid should be used, and 
washing in these cases only once a day will 
not be sufficient to insure the necessary 
cleanliness. With boys, the problem is 
quite different. The majority of boy 
babies are born with a tight foreskin, which 
cannot be pushed back until stretched. 
This, however, is a simple operation, and 
can easily be performed, though only the 
physician should do it. After this, the 



BATHS FOR THE BABY 119 

foreskin must be stripped clear back every 
day, and the membrane washed very 
gently, then vaselined, after which the 
foreskin is to be drawn into place. 

No matter how much emphasis is laid 
on the necessity for going through with 
this daily, or how urgently mothers are 
asked to be careful about it, the result is 
the same with few exceptions, and the boy 
is not washed. Parents very generally 
consider it either foolish or unnecessary, 
with the almost inevitable result that ad- 
hesions are allowed to form. 

Too much importance cannot be made of 
this part of the daily toilet. It is essential 
for good health, good manners, and, above 
all, good morals. Neglect plays a large 
part in the formation of bad habits, ar- 
rested mental development, nervous dis- 
orders of a more or less grave nature, even 
to epilepsy. That physicians are also to 
blame in this matter is too true. Com- 
paratively few lay any stress on the sub- 
ject. 

Occasionally one will try hard to im- 
press patients with the gravity of the sub- 
ject, to find later that his warnings have 



120 MOTHER AND BABY 

been in vain. The reason often is, that in 
talking over the subject with her friends, 
the mother learns that some other promi- 
nent physician says nothing about it, and 
by comparing notes she finds that no one 
has heard anything to make her understand 
that it is really necessary. Then she 
stops, feeling sure that her own doctor 
made a fuss about something of no im- 
portance. 

The son of a very prominent surgeon 
considered the advice given to his wife 
that the baby should be cared for in this 
matter every day perfectly absurd. He 
said that if this had been necessary he 
would have heard of it in his boyhood, for 
his father was an authority. The reason 
for this inertia on the part of physicians 
and parents generally is hard to explain, 
but the evils resulting from it are evident 
on all sides. In our schools the effects are 
very noticeable as it is a most common fac- 
tor in mental apathy, stupidity, irrespon- 
sibility, etc. The explanation given so fre- 
quently for irregularities of conduct on the 
part of many children that "boys will be 
boys," and accepted so calmly by many, 



BATHS FOR THE BABY 121 

shows a degree of short-sightedness little 
short of criminal. 

In a family of six sons, the four older 
ones began to show marked nervous symp- 
toms, and one had pronounced epilepsy. 
Tight foreskins with adhesions were 
found in all of them, so that circumcision 
was promptly advised. In two of the four 
cases the nervous shock produced a very 
trying after-effect from which one of the 
boys never quite recovered until well 
grown. When the fifth son was born, there 
was a different doctor in charge. 

He explained to the mother how the child 
should be washed, and why this particular 
procedure was necessary, with the result 
that the fifth and sixth sons never had to 
be circumcised, but were always normal, 
and entirely free from the distressing- 
nervousness which was characteristic of 
the elder boys. The mother said that the 
other physician had never mentioned to 
her the subject of bathing her boys. It is 
a fact that proper bathing almost always 
removes the necessity for circumcision, and 
it certainly seems remarkable that sensible 
parents can for one moment consider that 



122 MOTHER AND BABY 

common cleanliness and decency are so 
unimportant, or that any operation can 
do away with the necessity for it. 

Right here another word of advice: 
never allow a servant to perform this duty. 
So many little children, both boys and girls, 
are ruined for life by the evil teachings of 
servants that under no circumstances 
should the maid be permitted to do this for 
the children. If the awful stories and con- 
fessions given in a doctor's office could be 
made public, many wrecks, both mental and 
physical, could be traced directly to this 
one neglect of duty on the part of parents, 
and in very many cases there is absolutely 
no redress. 

Surely the neglect of any duty toward 
a child which may either directly or in- 
directly produce such awful consequences 
is a crime against him. 



RECAPITULATION 

I. Baths are necessary from the first day of 
life to the very last. 

II. They should be given at first on the nurse's 
lap, with the temperature of the water not above 



BATHS FOR THE BABY 123 

100° F. ; as soon as the cord falls off, or in two 
weeks anyway, the baby should be put in the 
tub, the temperature then at 98° F. At six 
months the temperature of the water should be 
at least 90° F. 

III. The temperature of the room should be 
70° F., and bathing before an open fire the best. 

IV. Nurse should wear a double flannel apron, 
one end for the baby to lie on, and the other end 
to cover him, thus avoiding exposure, and only 
the best grade of soap should be used. 

V. Boil the water used for bathing, and have 
rain water if possible. 

VI. In drying the baby, patting is better than 
rubbing ; dry carefully between fingers and toes, 
and all creases. 

VII. Milk crust in normal baby is due to care- 
lessness ; cleanliness will do away with that un- 
sightliness. 

VIII. Wash mouth gently every day, use 
boracic acid solution. This is a great aid to the 
digestion. 

IX. Keep the nose clean for other reasons be- 
sides aesthetic ones; neglect may lead to mouth- 
breathing. 

X. Tub bath at night is a good antidote for 
restlessness. 

XI. In hot weather, several sponge baths a day 
help a baby to endure it. 



124 MOTHER AND BABY 

XII. The baby should be rubbed down the 
spine every day for a few minutes; any lubri- 
cant is good. 

XIII. For an irritable skin, use no soap ; use 
starch, bran, or bicarbonate of soda in the water. 

XIV. Bad skin lesion may come from small 
beginnings ; allay any irritation as soon as pos- 
sible. 

XV. Sponges are unsanitary; use linen in- 
stead. 

XVI. The genitals of both sexes should always 
be kept clean; in boys the foreskin must be 
pushed back and the membrane washed gently 
every day. If this is done, as a rule circum- 
cision is unnecessary, but cleanliness is always 
imperative. Neglect of this part of the daily 
toilet may be a predisposing factor in the great- 
est consequences. 

XVIII. One of the preventives for colds is a 
cold bath in the morning. Stand child in tub 
with a little warm water and squeeze sponge 
with cold water two or three times over body; 
temperature, 55° or 60°. 



CHAPTEB VI 

HABITS OF THE BABY 

From the very start, and day after day, 
the baby should be trained to have his 
meals at a regular time. There may have 
to be some variation from this rule, per- 
haps, but a determination to have the meals 
served at the same hour each day, will not 
allow much irregularity. When the mother 
is ready, and the baby is only a few hours 
old, put him to the breast, and repeat this 
operation every four or five hours during 
the day until the third day, when the sched- 
ule time will have to be changed. From 
the first, do not let him have anything ex- 
cept water after eleven p. m. until the first 
meal of the day is taken at five or six 
o'clock. This, of course, applies only to 
the normal baby who weighs not less than 
7 to 7 i/. pounds ; undersized children have 
to be managed differently. After the milk 
diet is regularly installed, two hours is the 

125 



126 MOTHER AND BABY 

ordinary interval between the feedings 
during the day. If, however, the mother's 
milk is of good quality, the time can be 
changed to every two and one-half hours 
with great advantage to both mother and 
child. Indigestion from too frequent feed- 
ings is very common, but the rule to give 
the baby his milk every two hours is so 
universally accepted that this as a cause 
of the disturbance is frequently overlooked. 
If the child is well nourished and should 
wake up and grunt and fuss after the man- 
ner of babies, he can frequently be quieted 
by changing his diapers (which can be done 
without taking him up) and giving him a 
drink of water. It is a mistake to take a 
baby up and nurse him in the night. After 
this has been done once or twice, it has 
to be kept up, for habits of this kind are 
quickly formed, and like all habits, are 
hard to break. At first, the baby fre- 
quently has to be awakened in the day to 
have his milk on time. This does no harm, 
and soon he will learn to wake up himself. 
It is, however, a great advantage to keep 
him asleep at night, and if by gently chang- 
ing his position this can be accomplished, 



HABITS OF THE BABY 127 

the mother and baby will gain by the 
scheme. A good rest at night makes much 
difference in the quality of the milk. 

Normal babies are good sleepers. If a 
baby is not a quiet sleeper, there is some- 
thing very wrong with him, and he is no 
longer ''normal" ; for babies, like little ani- 
mals, sleep much, and peacefully. The 
first two months, a baby should sleep nearly 
twenty hours out of the twenty-four, but, 
of course, as he grows older, the hours of 
sleep in the daytime grow less. Much and 
quiet sleep is the very best preparation for 
a well-balanced nervous system, and there 
is no possibility of a child's getting too 
much. In the very beginning, he has to be 
taught to do most of his sleeping at night, 
and unless this stand is taken very de- 
cidedly by the person in charge, there is 
trouble in store for the entire family. 
Sleeping regularly and eating regularly 
have to be taught the new baby, who as a 
rule is very quick to learn these two things. 
If mothers knew how much easier it is for 
everybody that these regular, methodical 
habits should be established, and would be 
firm about carrying them out, much woe 



128 MOTHER AND BABY 

would be spared every other member of 
the household, and especially the baby 
himself. It is perfectly amazing how 
quickly these little people learn to assert 
themselves ; in a very few weeks the baby 
will have the entire family under his thumb, 
unless he has been made to understand 
that he must do certain things at stated 
times. Regular hours for feeding, and 
regular hours for sleeping are imperative 
for anything like methodical training. 

It is much better that a little baby should 
be handled as little as possible, the bones 
are soft, and more or less easily injured. 
All he needs is to be kept clean, warm, and 
his position changed every little while. It 
is important to remember that the shape 
of a baby's head may Be materially altered 
by allowing him to lie altogether on one 
side. See to it that his position is changed 
from time to time, because the bone of the 
head should have symmetrical pressure. 

It is much better never to rock the baby 
to sleep ; when he is ready for bed, put him 
in his crib, and let him alone. The crib 
should be warmed. A hot-water bag is an 
absolute essential in caring for a young 



HABITS OF THE BABY 129 

baby, for he must never be allowed to get 
chilled. By having the crib warmed, the 
child is much more apt to settle down to 
sleep, aside from lessening the danger of 
cold and colic. If a baby has never been 
fussed with in order to make him sleep 
he will not want it. The complaint is 
sometimes heard that the new-fangled 
fashions of caring for children tend to 
take away much of the pleasure of having 
a baby. The most important thing of all 
is to have a well-developed, normal child. 
After the first four or five months he can 
be held and petted more, but at first, the 
best results are attained by intelligent care, 
and this means, not much handling, not 
much notice taken of him, and no excite- 
ment, for the very delicate nervous system 
of a baby is so much more sensitive than 
people realize. Miss Wheeler in her ad- 
mirable book, "The Baby," lays great 
stress on the necessity for moderation in 
the successful management of young chil- 
dren. From the start, accustom the child 
to sleep where there is no unusual still- 
ness. They can sleep perfectly well, re- 
gardless of ordinary noises. It is the 



130 MOTHER AND BABY 

sharp, unusual sounds which waken a 
child, but there is no necessity for walking 
on tiptoe or speaking in a whisper. 

The so-called "nervous baby" is made 
so by the unwise treatment of the family. 
Babies, that is, most of them, are well and 
not nervous in the beginning. Of course, 
there is some difference in children in this 
respect, but the training is a far larger 
factor than heredity until long after baby 
days are well passed. Fathers and 
mothers from unwise pride in their off- 
spring are frequently foolish in the ex- 
treme with them. Incidents are seen over 
and over again illustrating the truth of 
this assertion; young inexperienced par- 
ents who have no appreciation of the in- 
jury that is being inflicted upon the chil- 
dren by their indiscretion, playing with, 
and exciting the little brains quite beyond 
the danger line. One young father wishing 
to show off the cleverness of his five- 
months-old son, would throw him up in the 
air by his little legs, and stand him on 
his head and go through various acrobatic 
feats — at bedtime, generally — and both 
parents were amply repaid by the shouts 



HABITS OF THE BABY 131 

of laughter from the baby. A young 
mother complained, that her daughter was 
never contented to be quiet, but always had 
to be amused all day long. And yet this 
same daughter was not a year old, and 
ought to have slept three or four hours 
every day. Nor are these blunders com- 
mitted only by young parents. A tired, 
worn-out, nervous woman came to a physi- 
cian for some remedy to make the baby 
sleep. On being questioned, the following 
facts were brought out. The baby had 
been shown off to admiring friends from 
birth; he had been awakened out of sound 
sleep night after night in order to amuse 
the father, and kept in such a state of ex- 
citement that finally there was no more 
quiet sleep for the child. Added to this, 
the diet from the first had been injurious 
in the extreme, until the poor baby's condi- 
tion was deplorable. Nurses would not 
stay, the mother was hysterical, and the 
entire domestic arrangements were dis- 
turbed. It took much eloquence and firm- 
ness on the physician's part to bring any- 
thing like order out of this chaos. A 
trained nurse was put in charge, the father 



132 MOTHER AND BABY 

and mother sent away, and the little pa- 
tient left alone with the doctor and the 
nurse. It was a long time before the baby 
either ate or slept even fairly well, and it is 
perfectly safe to say that this child will 
never develop into a perfectly satisfactory 
physical condition, largely if not entirely 
due to the treatment he received from those 
who loved him best in the world. To facil- 
itate good habits of sleeping be very sure 
that there are no pins that can possibly 
cause trouble, have all the clothes smooth 
witli no wrinkles, and always have the crib 
so arranged that the baby's eyes are pro- 
tected from the light. At first, a basket 
with a hood like a dog basket answers very 
well for a baby, and this can be carried 
around from place to ptace with little incon- 
venience, but never on any account cover 
the baby's head with a shawl or anything 
like that. There are people who still do 
this. Babies need air as much as grown 
people. After the basket is too small and 
a crib has to be used, have this arranged so 
that the eyes are well protected. A screen 
can be put around the crib, or if it is better 
to turn the head toward the window, put up 




:! 



CO "1 



HABITS OF THE BABY 133 

two uprights, one on either side, and throw 
something over this thus forming a tem- 
porary hood. It is a mistake to have the 
room dark, for after the child has grown 
accustomed to a dark room, he cannot sleep 
where there is any light. The more sun- 
light a baby has the better for him, and 
it is an excellent plan to have a child take 
his nap every day with the sun shining 
on him. In the country particularly, the 
practice of having the baby take his nap 
outdoors in his carriage is a very good one. 
Of course, he must be protected from the 
wind, but let the sun shine right on his car- 
riage. In the cities, window baskets often 
can be used, and the baby put into these. 
In many cases, to be sure, this is not feasi- 
ble, but in the country it can generally be 
managed. Babies and flowers are alike in 
that both are beautiful, and both thrive 
better under the care of people who love 
them, and both need good air to do their 
best. 

Until a baby is well along and can eat a 
mixed diet and exercise vigorously, he 
breathes better in the air that is not too 
cold. For this reason when the thermom- 



134 MOTHER AND BABY 

eter is down to 30°, the child should be 
kept in the house, but the air can be kept 
fresh there. However, in this matter as 
in many others, no absolute rule can be 
laid down about the temperature. In clear, 
dry, cold weather it is often very benefi- 
cial to take the baby out during the warmer 
hours of the day, and yet the thermometer 
may register below 30° F. Damp, windy, 
dusty air is never good for a baby's lungs, 
so that on questionable days some intelli- 
gence will have to be exercised as to the 
wisest way to treat the particular baby in 
question. But one rule holds good for all 
children, they will not thrive unless the 
air is good, and this means that it should be 
changed frequently in the room in which 
the baby is kept. Air that has been 
breathed over and over again is no more 
suitable for the good of the child than the 
"same water used over and over again is 
suitable for bathing." The air of the nur- 
sery and sleeping-room must be changed 
often, and it is quite as important that the 
night air should be fresh as that of the 
clay. For some unaccountable reason 
there are people who think that the air 



HABITS OF THE BABY 135 

at night is unwholesome, that windows of 
sleeping-rooms must be kept shut after 
sundown. There are few more disgusting 
odors than that which is found in rooms 
that have been occupied at night by adults 
with the windows shut. These individuals 
usually are the same, who have pronounced 
views about bathing freely, feeling that one 
bath or so a week will do for any ordinary 
mortal. It is certainly little short of in- 
human to compel a baby to breathe such 
an atmosphere. When the windows are 
open, great care must be taken that baby is 
in no draught. This is another advantage 
of a screen. It can be so arranged that 
when the baby is in the crib he can be pro- 
tected both from light and draught. 

In the daytime, when the weather is un- 
suitable for taking the child out of doors 
the windows can be opened, and the air of 
the room changed. This should be done 
while the baby is out of it, but care that 
the baby has plenty of oxygen ought to be 
as pressing as that he is fed or bathed 
every day. In the summer, the most invig- 
orating time is early in the morning; the 
air then is particularly fresh and sweet, 



136 MOTHER AND BABY 

and acts as a tonic. It is a pity that most 
people lose this part of the day. The baby 
ought to have the benefit of it, though, 
particularly if the weather is very hot. No 
child should be taken out during the warm- 
est hours of the day, unless he can be kept 
constantly in the shade. Avoid extremes 
of heat and cold; allowing a baby to per- 
spire freely, or to become chilled may lead 
to dangerous consequences. 

A good deal has been written about 
thumb-sucking, some physicians saying that 
it does no particular harm, while others de- 
nounce it as a bad habit, and one that 
should be broken up. Among the laity, 
there is a feeling that a child who sucks 
his thumb is apt to be a quiet baby and 
more easily managed, and so the habit is 
encouraged, and children are allowed to do 
this. There is no question about the fact 
that many children do this during baby 
days, and break the habit when older, and 
that no apparent harm results from it. 
Nevertheless, it is not wise to let a child 
do this, for while it is often apparently 
harmless, the bad results are sometimes 
very lasting. A wide-awake dentist was 



HABITS OF THE BABY 137 

looking with great pride at his firstborn 
not more than an hour old, when the baby 
put his thumb into his mouth and began to 
suck it most vigorously. The father said 
very quietly, "No, no, my son, you must 
not do that," and gently took the thumb 
out. Turning to the doctor he said, "I 
see too many ugly jaws to let this little 
fellow run any risks." 

The majority of people think prominent 
teeth a defect ; children who have them are 
much marred in looks ; thumb-sucking tends 
to make the jaw narrow, and to push the 
teeth forward. Surely the risk is hardly 
worth while. If a child sucks his thumb 
because he has indigestion or because he 
is nervous, consult the physician; but do 
not let the habit go on because some 
friend's children did it and no harm came 
of it. Habits such as pulling the ear, 
twisting the hair, or sucking the fingers 
are not in any way necessary, and the ef- 
fects that are brought about from just 
these propensities are frequently not so 
evident to the parents as to others. The 
folly of giving babies pacifiers — rubber 
nipples — to suck can not be too strongly 



138 MOTHER AND BABY 

denounced. Dr. Kerley in his book ' l Short 
Talks to Young Mothers" illustrates 
this particular enormity so well, that the 
following quotation from his book is 
given. 

The "pacifier" habit, the habit of sucking a 
rubber nipple, is an inexcusable piece of folly 
for which the mother or nurse is directly re- 
sponsible. The habit when formed is most diffi- 
cult to give up. The use of the "pacifier," 
thumb-sucking, finger-sucking, etc. make thick, 
baggy lips, on account of the exercise to which 
the parts are subjected. They cause an outward 
bulging of the teeth and a narrowing of the jaws 
which are not conducive to personal attractive- 
ness. Nature has not been so lavish of her gifts 
to the majority of mankind that they can af- 
ford to trifle with her handiwork. Furthermore 
the pacifier is often a menace to health. If 
there are two or three young children in the fam- 
ily, it is frequently passed around without other 
means of cleansing than being drawn a couple of 
times across the nurse's sleeve! This novel 
method of disinfecting the "pacifier" may be 
seen in actual use in the parks any pleasant day, 
and I have often seen the mother or nurse 
moisten the "pacifier" with her own lips before 
giving it to the child. I have seen young chil- 



HABITS OF THE BABY 139 

dren fight for the "pacifier," one taking it from 
the mouth of another ! It may readily be con- 
ceived what a boundless source of harm this lit- 
tle instrument may be, when every sort of dis- 
ease known to childhood may be tranferred by 
it. Thus it may act as a means of transmitting 
tuberculosis, syphilis, diphtheria, and many of 
the ailments of minor importance. Adenoids are 
often the result of thumb-sucking or the use of 
the ' ' pacifier. ' ' The pressure exerted in sucking 
forces the uvula against the posterior pharyn- 
geal wall; this irritates and stimulates the 
glands of the part, which in time enlarges and 
adenoids develop. To break the child of the 
"pacifier" habit, burn the "pacifier" and do not 
buy another as is sometimes done. 

The amount of trouble which enlarged 
tonsils or adenoids can cause is simply end- 
less, and nothing should be done, nor any 
risks run which can possibly foster their 
growth. It is a small matter not to allow 
a child to form any habit conducive to their 
development, but a large proposition to 
deal satisfactorily with them after they 
have developed. For this reason, a child 
should never be allowed to sleep with his 
mouth open. Tie the mouth up at night 
and watch the child. If the mouth is open, 



140 MOTHER AND BABY 

shut it up; by so doing a very unpleasant 
failing can frequently be remedied. 

Mouth-breathing is generally caused by 
the presence of an abnormal amount of 
tissue in the throat or nose, and it also 
predisposes to excess of this tissue ; it acts 
and reacts, but by carefully guarding a 
child against forming the habit of keeping 
the mouth open, the growth may never be 
large enough to cause trouble. On the 
other hand, it is a well-known medical fact 
that the presence of adenoids and enlarged 
tonsils makes a child abnormal. He is 
peculiarly liable to tonsilitis, diphtheria, 
and deafness; in fact, to almost anything, 
to say nothing of the unpleasant voice, 
thick utterance, and generally stupid ex- 
pression of countenance. It seems as 
though every one must feel that any habit 
which can add in the least to the possibility 
of this lesion, is hardly worth while. 

Many wish to know when the baby will be 
old enough to learn to use his chair, and 
not soil so many diapers. Some years ago 
the experiment of having small babies 
trained to use the chair was tried, and 
pronounced a failure. The spine and all 



HABITS OF THE BABY 141 

the bones are very soft. No small baby 
should ever sit up ; when he is old enough 
to do this, he will try it himself, and in a 
very short time accomplish it, but forcing 
the baby to do it is a dangerous plan, and 
may result in a life-long curvature. If the 
child is held up by any one, the pressure 
on the ribs is also injurious, and may cause 
the bones to bend. There is one more rea- 
son against the plan of having the child use 
his chair; it may cause prolapsus of the 
rectum, that is, protrusion of the large 
bowel, which makes trouble for him when 
he has a defecation, and ultimately ne- 
cessitates a surgical operation to remedy. 
Any vigilant mother can so train a baby as 
soon as he sits up that the number of soiled 
diapers can be materially lessened. If the 
baby's training is what it should be, he 
develops into a machine, and part of the 
work of that machine is to have the bowels 
move regularly each day. This habit is 
by no means the least of the advantages 
of methodical training. Babies are born 
without habits. Those are contracted 
later; whether the habit is good or bad de- 
ponds upon the attendant. The baby cries 



142 MOTHER AND BABY 

in the night, and is taken up and nursed. 
This operation is repeated again the next 
night, and by the third time, this is a pretty 
well fixed habit, and he will cry much 
harder if he is not given what he wants. 
It is the same about going to bed. If he 
has been rocked or sung to for a night or 
two, he generally is unwilling to relinquish 
this pleasure without a considerable strug- 
gle. 

If by making enough of a fuss he can 
have his milk any time, there is no ques- 
tion but that the fuss will be made, and 
much woe will follow in this wake. 

A very wise mother was asked by a 
much younger woman who was planning 
for the first baby, how soon she ought to 
begin to discipline the prospective infant. 
"The very first day," was the reply, "and 
keep it up as long as you live." The dis- 
ciplining of children is a much simpler 
matter if managed in this way, and the bat- 
tles fewer and more decisive if begun early. 
The scheme of letting children do as they 
please, with the belief that after a while, 
as they grow older, they will develop into 
well-disciplined, obedient children is al- 



HABITS OF THE BABY 143 

ways a failure. Such a plan is hard for 
the father and mother, trying to neighbors 
and friends, but worst of all for the child 
himself, and none has a right so to handicap 
a child. The child who amounts to much 
in this world is the one who has been made 
to understand from the very beginning 
that there are certain things which must 
be done, and others which, if persisted in, 
bring dire consequences. 

RECAPITULATION 

I. Every baby should be taught to eat at reg- 
ular times. It is better for the mother and baby 
to have long hours of sleep at night, therefore 
give nothing but a drink of water between ten or 
eleven o'clock and the first meal in the morning. 

II. Intervals of 2y 2 hours after the first week 
are often better than 2 hours, and aid digestion. 

III. Awaken the baby in the daytime, if neces- 
sary, to nurse on time. 

IV. Do not play with, rock to sleep, or jump 
a small baby about. The quieter he is kept, the 
better for him. 

V. Lay him down, first on one side, then on 
the other; do not have all the pressure on one 
side of the head. 



144 MOTHER AND BABY 

VI. Accustom him to sleep in a light bedroom 
and not to mind ordinary noises. 

VII. The baby should have fresh air every day, 
his naps should be out-of-doors. 

VIII. Do not let the baby suck his thumb ; 
it may lead to misshapen jaw, prominent teeth, 
adenoids, and other evils. 

IX. Never allow a child to have a "pacifier." 

X. Avoid letting him form any habit which 
may be detrimental, for bad habits are easily 
acquired, and hard to break. 



CHAPTEE VII 
THE NURSERY AND THE NURSE 

In choosing a room for a nursery, the 
room where the baby is to spend most of 
his time when in the house, one should be 
selected that has much sunlight ; preferably 
with a southern and western exposure. 
The ideal conditions for ventilation are 
when there are two windows, one facing 
the south, and one the west, and an open 
fireplace. In the city, the higher up the 
nursery, the better the air and in the coun- 
try, it should not be on the first floor, for 
this is apt to be damp. A large room is 
better than a small one, especially if the 
baby sleeps in it. 

The furnishings should be of the simplest 
kind, no draperies or upholstered furni- 
ture, only plain things than can be washed. 
A hard floor is better far than carpet or 
matting, and a few rugs, light in weight so 
that they can be easily cleaned are advis- 

145 



146 MOTHER AND BABY 

able. Painted walls are also better than 
any other, for they can be wiped with a 
damp cloth and kept clean. 

The bed for the baby should be simple. 
Brass or rattan beds are unsuitable, be- 
cause impossible to keep sanitary ; a plain 
white enamel "Safety bed" is fairly satis- 
factory. Have a woven-wire mattress — 
neither hair, cotton, nor excelsior is proper 
for babies to sleep on. The woven-wire 
one covered with a heavy blanket is just 
the thing, as the blanket can be shaken and 
aired every day, and the mattress dusted. 
Over the blanket put some sort of a cov- 
ering, like "stork cloth," or a rubber 
sheet, that protects from the cold and 
at the same time keeps the blanket dry. 
Put over the rubber cloth a white sheet and 
then a large pad. A bed made in this way 
can be kept perfectly clean, and is easily 
aired. Have the covering for the baby as 
light in weight as possible, and at the same 
time warm. One or two woolen blankets, 
and a woolen comforter should be suffi- 
cient, and not heavy. The baby must be 
kept warm, without visibly perspiring, for 
which reason a feather pillow is not good 



THE NURSERY AND THE NURSE 147 

for him, but a small hair one, an inch high, 
much better. 

If the nurse sleeps in the room with the 
child, it is better that she should have only 
her bed there; her belongings, consisting 
of clothes, etc., should be in another room. 
The fewer things there are in the room 
where the child is, the better it is, and the 
easier it is to keep in order. Eunning 
water, wash-basins, plumbing or any ap- 
paratus for cooking should not be allowed 
in the nursery. All this should be in 
another room. Absolutely nothing should 
be in this room which can in any way taint 
the air in the slightest degree. This room 
should be brushed and dusted with a damp 
cloth every day, and aired carefully at 
least twice a day. No nursery should be 
without a thermometer, and the mother and 
nurse should keep close watch, and not let 
the room become overheated, or too cool. 

At first, for a young baby, the tempera- 
ture should be kept at 70° — but as soon 
as the child can kick and move his arms, 
68° F. is quite warm enough. When the 
thermometer goes over 70° F. the child in 
liable to catch cold. Children are much 



148 MOTHER AND BABY 

better kept in a somewhat cool room rather 
than too warm. If more heat is needed 
than comes from the furnace, of course an 
open fire is always the best; if this is out 
of the question, a Franklin stove is much 
better than an oil or gas stove. These send 
out poisonous gases and are always an ele- 
ment of danger. The room should be 
cooler at night. Until the baby is two or 
three months old, the temperature should 
be about 65° F., after three months old it 
may be as low as 55° F., and after the baby 
is one year old it may be 50° F., or even 
45° F. Unless the temperature is below 
freezing, the window can be opened at 
night after the baby is three months old, 
and it is much better to begin in baby days 
and train him to this estimable habit of 
sleeping with an abundance of outside air 
in the room. 

The process of airing the room where 
the baby is may be begun — even in cold 
weather — when he is a month old. At 
first, the windows should be opened only 
for ten minutes, but gradually the time 
may be extended to 4 or 5 hours, and this 
can be done in almost any weather. 



THE NURSERY AND THE NURSE 149 

The child should be dressed with bon- 
net and coat on, as though he were going 
out, then placed in a crib or carriage a few 
feet from the window. Close the doors to 
avoid draughts, and then there is no dan- 
ger of the baby's taking cold. In summer, 
he may be taken out when a week old, but in 
the fall and spring, it is better to wait for 
three or four weeks. As it was said be- 
fore, it is much better for every baby to 
take his naps in the open air, but place him 
so that the wind does not blow in his face, 
and never let the sun shine in his eyes, 
whether awake or asleep. The baby 
needs oxygen to renew and purify the 
blood, just as an adult does ; consequently it 
is quite as essential as food or sleep. The 
mother should supervise the temperature 
of the nursery and the amount of fresh air 
the baby has. It is not wise to trust this 
to any one, no matter how responsible she 
may be, and wisdom in this matter will 
often make just the difference between 
a healthy and a delicate child. The 
nursery is the baby's own particular 
sanctum, and all his things are kept there. 
Most babies have enough belongings to re- 



150 MOTHER AND BABY 

quire considerable space. In order to 
simplify the case, there should be a place 
for everything, and everything in its place. 
In the bureau have one drawer for skirts 
and dresses, another for stockings, shirts, 
and so on. Have some diapers folded 
neatly at the foot of the bed, and keep a 
hot-water bag under them in cold weather. 
If one does not care to see them, they can 
be covered over with something, but it is 
convenient to have them near, especially at 
night, and they should be kept warmed to 
be ready for use. In the night, the diapers 
can be changed under the bedclothes after 
a little practice, and frequently the baby 
will quiet down after this, and never notice 
anything excepting a feeling of comfort 
after being wet and uncomfortable, and 
with not the least exposure to cold. When 
the diapers are changed, never put them 
on the floor. Even though they are only 
left there for a few minutes, the odor is 
very tenacious and penetrating, and after 
a while is noticeable even though they are 
not in the room. Have a receptacle to put 
them in and carry them out as quickly as 
possible. A granite basin is very good 



THE NURSERY AND THE NURSE 151 

or even a piece of paper, in order that they 
may not come in contact with anything in 
the room. The odor of soiled diapers is 
very trying, and detracts seriously from 
the pleasure of being in the room. There 
should be no odor in a nursery, only fresh 
air and perhaps a faint suggestion of 
sweetness, such as lavender or orris. The 
woman who had all her babies' clothes put 
away in moth balls was practical, perhaps, 
but not exactly aesthetic. Pronounced 
odors of any land are not agreeable. 

A most indispensable article for the fur- 
nishing of the nursery is a screen, and the 
simple ones are the best. A small clothes- 
horse with brass rods or tapes stretched 
across the top and bottom to hold the cur- 
tains makes a most useful one, and is very 
easily kept clean. Of course, as the baby 
must never be in a draught, the screen 
comes constantly into play. 

Because fresh air is so essential, the 
room should be thoroughly aired twice a 
day. Choose the hour when the baby is 
out of the room, and open the windows 
wide; if it is very cold, storming, or other- 
wise unsuitable for the baby to be out of 



152 MOTHER AND BABY 

doors, this is all the air he will get, so it 
should be faithfully attended to these days. 
Very early in his career the baby manages 
to kick and wiggle himself from under the 
bedclothes, a scheme highly conducive to 
colds and croup. If the bedclothes are 
properly adjusted, he can kick and squirm 
to his heart's content, and yet keep cov- 
ered. Thers are various contrivances for 
this purpose; one is to pin the blankets 
with large safety pins which are designed 
for this purpose; another, to make the 
nightdress with a drawing-string at the 
bottom which can be gathered up and tied 
after it is put on. Another very effectual 
device is to put the infant into a flannel 
bag made from a blanket, and tie the 
strings well up under the arms. The bag 
should be large enough to allow much free- 
dom as children often will not sleep with 
this on unless they can move their legs. 
By putting on an extra sacque, the arms 
and chest may be protected also. Some- 
thing should always be done, so that the 
child will not take cold. Frequently the 
kicking at night comes from being too 
warm; ascertain exactly the cause if pos- 



THE NURSERY AND THE NURSE 153 

sible, and then apply the necessary remedy. 

It means a great deal of work to care 
for a baby, and keeps one person pretty 
constantly in attendance. If the mother 
can have a nurse, it is better that she 
should be relieved of so continual a strain. 
No one woman can do everything; if she 
keeps her house well, and is a suitable com- 
panion for her husband, and wishes to keep 
abreast of the times even a little bit, this 
will necessarily occupy some hours of the 
day, and so some one must help with the 
baby. 

The selection of the proper person is a 
problem of much more moment than many 
people dream. Much of the child's life is 
spent with his nurse. If she is the right 
person for the position, well and good, and 
the mother who has such a treasure may 
well be grateful. On the other hand, the 
mischief the unsuitable nurse is capable of 
doing is unending. No wise woman ever 
relinquishes the entire charge of her child 
to any one — no matter how well adapted 
she is for the position ; but she always has 
a careful supervision and oversight, and 
keeps herself well informed about every- 



154 MOTHER AND BABY 

thing even to the smallest detail. In a 
well-regulated home, adequate provision 
should be made for the nurse. She should 
have a room of her own, where she can 
keep her effects, bathe and dress, and be 
by herself when off duty. She may be 
obliged to share the nursery at night with 
the child, but it is all nervous work, and 
a nurse should have regular hours off, 
when she can be free for a time. It is cer- 
tainly a high order of service, and deserves 
good pay. As a rule, nurses should be 
above the other servants in discretion and 
intelligence. Physicians who have seen 
many children appreciate this fact, and 
urge more and more the advisability of 
having trained women for this work. As 
soon as the trained nurse leaves and the 
other nurse is installed, a tremendous fac- 
tor for good or evil has entered into the 
child's life. If there is one calling above 
another where it seems as though all the 
cardinal virtues were needed in one indi- 
vidual it is in the child's nurse. This par- 
ticular combination is rare. There are 
some things, though, which are so essential 
that without them the person is entirely 



THE NURSERY AND THE NURSE 155 

unfit for the position. It is, of course, im- 
perative that the nurse should be cleanly 
about her person ; she should bathe a great 
deal, wear clean underclothes and dresses, 
and have no disagreeable odor about her. 
The teeth should be in good condition, and 
brushed regularly. When looking after 
the baby, she should always wear wash- 
dresses, and never on any account handle 
the child before changing the dress which 
she has worn when in any of her friends' 
houses. Quiet and polite manners are a 
great advantage, and will make a great 
difference as soon as the baby is old 
enough. The nurse who always says 
"Thank you," and "Please" to the child, 
has done much toward making him do the 
same. 

Forgetfulness in matters of this kind 
makes very much difference in his charm, 
and really nothing can atone for rude or 
impertinent manners. It is not at all es- 
sential that the nurse be pretty ; a child al- 
ways loves the person who loves and cares 
for him, and is apt to think her beautiful ; 
but she should be clean and tidy about 
herself and in appearance. An illiterate, 



156 MOTHER AND BABY 

rather uncouth Irish woman was engaged 
to care for a very small baby, to whom she 
became devotedly attached. Nature had 
not been very generous in the matter of 
external charms, but the defect was made 
good by a very sweet, unselfish nature and 
a good, honest heart. After the baby grew 
large enough to talk, he would throw his 
arms around her neck, and tell her in baby 
language how beautiful she was. The de- 
light of that nurse was pathetic. She re- 
paid his devotion by the most jealous care 
until long after he had grown up. 

It seems hardly necessary to say that a 
nurse should be free from tuberculosis or 
any disease which the child could possibly 
contract, and temperate in her habits. 
The faintest suggestion of beer or alcohol 
about a woman renders her entirely unfit 
to care for a child. Many books lay stress 
on the wisdom of having a young woman 
between twenty-five and thirty-five for this 
position, and yet youth is by no means al- 
ways an advantage. Unless a person is 
too old to be sprightly and not able to ex- 
ercise vigorously, there are some very 
great advantages in having an older and 



THE NURSERY AND THE NURSE 157 

more experienced person. Common sense 
and a cool head are more apt to be found 
with years and experience, and surely no- 
where are they more needed than in caring 
for children. A woman blessed with this 
kind of sense knows intuitively what to do 
when the emergency arises, and there are 
always plenty of opportunities to show her 
skill. 

Many times accidents are averted by the 
timely action of the nurse, and story after 
story is told of the faithful and untiring 
devotion of this class of women. 

That dreadful fire in New York City, 
which destroyed one of the largest and best 
known hotels in the country, is quite within 
the memory of most people. A large num- 
ber of little children assembled there for 
a dancing lesson were saved by the pres- 
ence of mind of one of the nurses, whose 
charges were among this number. She 
discovered the fire and gave warning to 
one of the hotel officials, and then warned 
the dancing teacher so quietly that not one 
of the children realized that anything un- 
usual was going on. Taking the younger 
of her children in her arms, she and the 



158 MOTHER AND BABY 

teachers led all the others through the most 
intricate and winding corridors until they 
were safe from danger. This fire oc- 
curred in broad daylight, and yet many peo- 
ple were burned to death. But for the 
presence of mind of this nurse many inno- 
cent children would have been added to 
the list. But all nurses are not faithful 
to their trusts, and resort to many schemes 
and devices to evade their duty. 

A very young baby died suddenly from 
an unknown cause. Later it developed 
that paregoric (a small dose only) had 
been given by the nurse, to quiet the child's 
crying, and enable her to sleep. The fact 
that the dose was small and given with no 
intention of killing the child could not ap- 
peal to the parents as an adequate ex- 
cuse. 

Soothing syrups are as a rule villainous 
compounds and are responsible for much 
mischief. In fact, all medicines given to 
a child to quiet him, except by the doctor's 
orders, are pernicious to a degree ; and the 
nurse who is caught administering any- 
thing of the kind should be discharged in- 
stantly. She is never to be trusted, but 



THE NURSERY AND THE NURSE 159 

is capable of doing harm which never can 
be undone. 

One walk through the Park any pleas- 
ant day when babies with their nurses are 
out in great numbers, will convince any 
thoughtful person that very little discre- 
tion is displayed in the selection of the 
women who care for the babies in the city, 
and the difference between the city and 
country is only one of numbers. The ab- 
solute indifference which is displayed by 
these nurses toward the babies committed 
to their charge is something appalling. 
That most fathers and mothers love their 
children is beyond question, but that many 
of them have no respect or reverence for 
them is also beyond question. They en- 
trust the care of them to servants who they 
know are morally unfit to have anything 
to do with an innocent child. These in a 
most flippant manner excuse indecencies 
of speech and manner by saying, ''Oh, 
when he is older he will know better." No 
one who does not love and respect children 
and has not a clean mind together with 
right principles should ever be entrusted 
with the most precious of all mortal things, 



160 MOTHER AND BABY 

a baby. Every one who has had much to 
do with children of the rich as well as the 
poor is often shocked and disgusted by 
the actions and words of some very small 
boys and girls, those who have been cared 
for by these very unfit attendants. A very 
young boy who could only use baby talk 
was having an altercation with his nurse. 
The Billingsgate, interlarded with oaths 
which would have done credit to any long- 
shoreman, that poured from his mouth 
was perfectly amazing. And the nurse 
answered him in the same choice English. 
That woman had been a retainer in the 
family for some time, and it is probably 
not uncharitable to think that she was re- 
sponsible at least for part of the knowledge 
that child had acquired. 

It is a well-known law in psychology that 
imitation is the first and strongest impulse 
in a child's nature. This was a child in 
a cultivated family, and the mother, at 
least, would never have used such words, 
and in all probability tried to check the 
child. This incident is by no means un- 
usual. Teachers and physicians are con- 
stantly being confronted by just such prob- 



THE NURSERY AND THE NURSE 161 

lems, and if it were confined to this phase 
alone — which is bad enough — the physical 
effects are not so utterly ominous as from 
other evils taught in many cases by nurses 
also. The habit of masturbation, that is, 
the undue handling of and irritating the 
genitals, so common among children, and 
so injurious to their health and morals, 
is always taught by some one. There are 
exceptions to this rule where there is a 
physical cause, but the statement holds 
true so often that it is allowed to stand. 
It is true that sometimes very small babies 
acquire the habit, but with them it is en- 
tirely reflex and can always be stopped with 
a little patience and care. 

Babies should be closely watched and 
properly bathed, and then if the least ten- 
dency is shown towards this perversion, 
it should be corrected at once. When, 
however, the habit is taken up by older 
children, because it has been taught them, 
the question is a most serious one, and de- 
serves the strictest attention from every 
thoughtful parent. That nurses are guilty 
of this sin, because it keeps the children 
quiet, and allows the attendant more free- 



162 MOTHER AND BABY 

dom is known to be a fact by every physi- 
cian. This terrible evil is a predisposing 
agent in all stages of retarded mental and 
physical development, epilepsy, idiocy, 
feeble-mindedness, and insanity. 

It is so prevalent in our schools, both 
public and private, as to cause much anx- 
iety. Surely no sane parent would for one 
minute keep a servant who was known to 
be guilty of such a crime. That mothers 
frequently know very little about this is no 
excuse. The dose of paregoric, mentioned 
before, was never intended to kill the child ! 
Nitro-glycerine explodes quite as effec- 
tively for an ignorant person, under the 
right conditions, as for the intelligent. It 
makes no real difference in the results that 
parents cannot understand how such fear- 
ful results are attained from such causes. 
Until fathers and mothers rise to the oc- 
casion, and inform themselves on this im- 
portant subject, little can be done for the 
children. 

A conscientious mother discovered to her 
horror that her little daughter had in some 
mysterious way acquired this dreadful 
habit. The child's nurse, an old family 



THE NURSERY AND THE NURSE 163 

retainer, having been the mother's nurse 
previously, had taught this to the little girl 
and made her promise not to tell; therefore 
it was only after much patience and careful 
inquiry that the mother was able to find 
out about it. It was a matter of months 
before the doctor and mother could break 
up the habit, and even then it had made 
serious inroads upon the nervous system. 

A young boy from a well-known intellec- 
tual family confessed to his physician that 
his nurse had taught him this vicious habit 
when he was a small child and that he had 
never been able to break away from it. 
His health was seriously undermined by 
his habits, and his will was so weakened 
that the doctor could do little for him, and 
shortly after he died from heart failure 
following pneumonia. No human being 
has any right to jeopardize the mental, 
moral, and physical well-being of a child; 
and it would be hard to imagine anything 
more terrible than the anguish of fathers 
and mothers who have in their family such 
wrecks as this habit may lead to, and at 
the same time know that their ignorance 
or indifference to their children during 



164 MOTHER AND BABY 

baby days and childhood is largely respon- 
sible. 

A beautiful mother taught all her chil- 
dren when mere babies to sleep with some- 
thing in the hands, a doll, or a small pil- 
low or some object like this which could 
be held up close to the face. The idea was 
that if the child 's hands were occupied the 
danger of acquiring bad habits in bed would 
be greatly lessened. The results in this 
case were all that could be desired. The 
wisdom of the procedure can hardly be 
over-estimated. The old adage that Satan 
finds some mischief still for idle hands to 
do is painfully illustrated in the case of 
so many children, and the most effectual 
remedy is substitution. 

RECAPITULATION 

I. Have a large, sunny room above the first 
floor for nursery, with simple furnishings. 

II. The baby's bed should be of the simplest 
kind, so that it can be dusted and aired daily. 
Have a low hair pillow, and bed clothes light in 
weight. 

III. The temperature during the day should 
not be above 70°. An open fire is best of all. 



THE NURSERY AND THE NURSE 165 

IV. Until baby is two or three months old, at 
night the temperature should be about 65°, after 
three months it may be 55°, and after a year it 
may be 45°. 

V. The room should be aired thoroughly twice 
a day. It should be clean, well dusted, and or- 
derly. 

VI. Never put soiled or wet diapers on the 
floor. Have some kind of receptacle to put them 
in, and remove from the room as soon as pos- 
sible. 

VII. A screen is indispensable, the simpler the 
better. 

VIII. Have the baby's night-clothes arranged 
so that he will never be uncovered. 

IX. If possible, the mother should have a 
nurse to help care for the baby, but no matter 
how responsible she may be, the mother should 
carefully supervise everything. 

X. The nurse should be healthy, clean, and 
temperate. 

XI. The law of imitation is old; see that the 
example set the child is what it should be. 



CHAPTER VIII 

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 

There is no other way of telling so ac- 
curately how the baby is thriving as the 
weight, and during the first year a record 
is almost indispensable. The baby should 
be weighed every week, for the first six 
months, and after that at least once in two 
weeks. During the first week many babies 
lose instead of gain, but by putting them 
to the breast as soon as the mother is suf- 
ficiently rested and keeping up the prac- 
tice the loss is much less, and frequently 
there is a gain even that week. For the 
first six months the average baby gains 
from four to eight ounces a week, and the 
next six months the average is from two 
to four ounces. Bottle-fed babies as a rule 
do not gain much the first month, for in 
order to prepare the child's stomach to 
digest cow's milk, a very weak prepara- 
tion has to be given. Hence the baby does 

166 







/ 




A Nll;v BATI8FA( rOB-V METHOD OB WEIGHING THE BAB'S is TO PLACE 
IT IN \ BASKET will, ii BBBTB skitkki.v OM THE BCALES. 



GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 167 

not have all the nourishment he is capable 
of assimilating, and loses for the first few 
weeks. Later, however, the gain may be 
more continuous for he does not have to 
be weaned. The average baby weighs 
about 7 to 7 y 2 pounds at birth. He 
should double that in six months, and tre- 
ble it at twelve months. 

Of course, children vary in this, and dur- 
ing hot weather, or after the teeth begin 
to appear there may be an actual loss in- 
stead of gain. 

It was said that one of the tests that 
show that the baby is thriving is by the in- 
crease of weight, but there are exceptions 
to this. If a baby is fed on proprietary 
foods he is very apt to gain rapidly, but 
there will be other symptoms which show 
he is not just right. Babies fed exclusively 
on these preparations almost invariably 
show signs of malnutrition. 

The normal baby should hold up his 
head when he is supported, by the third 
or fourth month, and at seven or eight 
months should sit up erect. The soft spot 
closes about the fifteenth month, and it 
should not be open at two years. He 



168 MOTHER AND BABY 

should begin to talk at about one year, and 
walk by the fifteenth or sixteenth month. 
No child should be urged to stand or be 
put upon his feet until he declares himself 
ready. There is much variation in all 
these matters — prolonged illnesses or 
grave digestive disturbances may make a 
great difference. Rickets is a common 
cause for backwardness in sitting erect, 
slowness about walking, or cutting the 
teeth. 

The number of teeth in the first set is 
twenty. Usually the first to appear are 
the two lower central incisors, next the 
four upper central incisors. Next, two 
more lower ones, and the four front double 
teeth. The ''eye" and "stomach" teeth 
then appear, and finally the last four dou- 
ble ones. These complete the set. The 
first ones may come any time after the 
fifth month, the eye and stomach teeth 
about the eighteenth months, and by the 
time the baby is two and one-half years 
old, he generally has the entire set. He- 
redity plays an important part in dentition ; 
family peculiarities are very apt to repeat 



GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 169 

themselves, so that this rule is subject to 
much variation. 

It is a great mistake to call all the ill- 
nesses of the baby days "teething." As a 
matter of fact there should be but little 
disturbance from the teeth. The baby 
drools more or less, he may be somewhat 
fretful, and perhaps the temperature is 
slightly elevated, but these symptoms 
should only last for a few days. If the 
gums are swollen, the baby may refuse his 
food for a while, and there are often signs 
of indigestion in the stools, but if the baby 
is sick, and the signs are evident for more 
than three or four days, there are other 
factors than teeth cutting through the gums 
responsible. 



RECAPITULATION 

I. Baby should be weighed every week for the 
first six months, and at least once in two weeks 
for the second six months. 

II. The first loss will be far less if baby is put 
to the breast regularly for the first three days. 

III. For the first six months, the average 



170 MOTHER AND BABY 

weekly gain is from four to eight ounces, and 
for the second six months, from two to four 
ounces. 

IV. Bottle-fed babies are apt to gain but little 
the first month, but later the gain may be steady 
because of no loss by weaning. 

V. Average weight at birth is seven or seven 
and a half pounds, in six months it should be 
doubled, and in a year, trebled. 

VI. Continuous diet of proprietary food al- 
most invariably produces malnutrition, though 
often a gain in weight. 

VII. The baby should hold up his head at 
third or fourth month, and sit up alone at sev- 
enth or eighth month. The soft spot should close 
by fourteenth or fifteenth month, and should 
never be open at two years. 

VIII. He should talk at about one year, and 
walk at fifteenth or sixteenth month. 

IX. First teeth appear any time after the fifth 
month, and the entire set of twenty should be 
through at two and one-half years. 

X. Cutting the teeth may make trouble for a 
few days, but a prolonged illness has other 
causes. 



CHAPTER IX 
THE SICK BABY 

As long as the baby is well it is a com- 
paratively easy matter to take care of him, 
but the sick baby is a very different prop- 
osition; then, many perplexing problems 
confront the mother. She, herself, to be 
a successful nurse, must have a cool head 
and a quiet manner. Children are most 
susceptible to the kind of temperaments 
which are around them, and excitement of 
any kind may be the undoing of a sick 
child. 

The mother must be firm, and yet ap- 
preciate when it is wiser to humor the 
whims and fancies of the little one. Be- 
cause the child is incapable of correctly 
telling his symptoms, the mother needs 
keen eyes and an acute sense rightly to in- 
terpret the real trouble. 

If possible, it is better in an illness of 
any severity to have a trained nurse. 

171 



172 MOTHER AND BABY 

For one thing, the mother gets too tired 
and nervous with anxiety and various 
duties to do the best for the patient; sec- 
ondly, a nurse frequently obtains better 
results by her kindly firmness, compelling 
the obedience which many a baby has not 
been taught to yield to his mother, so that 
when the crucial test comes, he refuses to 
take the disagreeable dose which is so es- 
sential, or, if he finally gives in, it is only 
after the poor body is too exhausted to 
fight any longer. 

There is no time when the result of wise 
training shows to such advantage as with 
the sick baby. The successful issue of 
many a grave operation, or the happy re- 
sult of some severe and painful illness is 
due largely to this one thing, that the child 
had a wise mother, and had been taught 
from the beginning to mind. Every doc- 
tor knows what it is to be told, ''the baby 
would not take the medicine"; with the 
result occasionally that the call has been 
too close. 

The writer recalls distinctly the distress- 
ing experience in a neighbor's family when 
the onlv child died from an attack of diph- 



THE SICK BABY 173 

theria which was by no means necessarily 
hopeless. The child, at least six years old, 
quite old enough to have learned obedience, 
absolutely refused to swallow his medicine, 
or to permit the local treatment for his 
relief. His parents had no control over 
him, and the doctor was obliged to stand 
by and see his patient die needlessly, be- 
cause he had not learned to obey. 

If a child proves obstinate, it is better 
not to argue the question, but take him up 
and wrap a shawl about the body, pinning 
the arms down to prevent interference, 
hold the nose carefully, and, when he opens 
his mouth to breathe, insert the spoon as 
far as possible, empty it gently, and with- 
draw it slowly. 

This is not cruel, but the best way to get 
around a trying problem. Children will 
frequently give right up and take the medi- 
cine quietly after one trial and it is far 
better than exhaustive arguments. Tact, 
gentleness, and firmness are sorely needed 
in the case of sick children. 

Some of the medicines which are much 
used for children are far from pleasant, 
but after all the nauseous dose can be ren- 



174 MOTHER AND BABY 

dered quite palatable by a little thought- 
fulness. Castor oil neither smells nor 
tastes well, but given between layers of 
orange juice it goes down much better. A 
piece of ice put into the mouth first, and 
then the medicine, will often make a bad 
dose go down without much fussing. Small 
pieces of sweet chocolate are often bene- 
ficial, used as a reward for taking some- 
thing unpleasant. This is a perfectly 
harmless piece of bribery and quite ex- 
cusable. Cod-liver oil is taken by many 
children without objection ; they even learn 
to like it. It should be given always on 
a full stomach. All oily medicines should 
be kept in a cool place, otherwise they are 
apt to become rancid. In giving any oil, 
always dip the spoon into water first, and 
then wash it immediately afterward, other- 
wise it retains the taste of the medicine, 
and will give offense to other innocent vic- 
tims. Teaspoonfuls vary greatly as to 
size ; in giving medicine it is better to use 
a four-ounce graduate marked with drams 
and ounces. These are inexpensive and ac- 
curate and can be obtained at any drug- 
gist's. In giving medicine in drop doses, 






THE SICK BABY 175 

use the glass dropper which is also easily 
obtained at any drug store, and be care- 
ful to follow directions exactly. Medicines 
given in drop doses are always strong, so 
that care is needed to follow directions to 
the letter. 

Always have plenty of fresh air in the 
sick child's room, and have nothing around 
that could possibly be offensive. All the 
rules for cleanliness given in the chapter 
on the nursery should be most rigidly en- 
forced for the sick child. 

That no grouping or arrangement of 
symptoms, or any definite line of treat- 
ment, can be given which will enable the 
laity to diagnose and treat successfully the 
various diseases of children is obvious. 

The writer is convinced that the so- 
called ' ' Doctor 's Book ' ' used in many fami- 
lies is a distinct source of harm. The 
process of trying to match the symptoms 
given in the book with the symptoms pre- 
sented by some particular patient is rarely 
entirely satisfactory. Meanwhile, many 
valuable hours may be lost before a physi- 
cian is called, with only too often an irrep- 
arable injury to the patient. As a rule, 



176 MOTHER AND BABY 

the mother's eyes and intuitions are keen 
to see when anything is wrong with her 
baby. Awful catastrophes and long and 
tedious illness may be and often have been 
averted by promptly sending for the physi- 
cian when it is noticed that the baby is 
sick. Consequently, it is earnestly urged 
upon parents to do this and be guided by 
the doctor's advice instead of following 
the advice of friends, or trying to treat 
the child with no idea as to the cause or 
result of the illness. There are times, 
though, when what is needed is prompt, 
intelligent action, and the remedies which 
are necessary must be applied at once. 
Often too, for various reasons, it is im- 
possible to consult a physician on the spot, 
and perhaps all that is needed is a judi- 
cious dose of castor oil, or a change in 
diet. 

The following suggestions are given hop- 
ing to show mothers how to act in emer- 
gencies and to help tide over until proper 
advice can be obtained. 

Babies fed upon breast-milk entirely, are 
rarely sick — that is, if the mothers exer- 
cise proper caution. If they do have diar- 



THE SICK BABY 177 

rhea or colic it is generally from being fed 
too often, colds, or from some article of 
food taken by the mother which disagrees 
with the baby. One frequent cause is cold. 
This can generally be averted by carefully 
noticing that the child's hands and feet are 
warm, and that he is not unduly exposed. 
On the mother's part, it is frequently 
necessary to renounce favorite articles of 
food, because when indulged in they give 
the baby pain. Again, when the mother 
is over-tired or overheated the milk will 
disagree with the baby. These things are 
quite easily remedied. 

A beautiful eight-months-old baby which 
was entirely breast-fed, had a sudden hard 
attack of diarrhea, much to the consterna- 
tion of her parents. The child seemed 
quite normal one day, and the next day 
had much pain and very green stools. On 
questioning the mother, two facts were 
brought to light, an inordinate indulgence 
in rhubarb pie, and a violent outburst of 
temper. The combination was quite too 
much for the baby. The mother's surprise 
was very evident at the questions, and 
increased when the only treatment pre- 



178 MOTHER AND BABY 

scribed for the baby was a large carthartic 
given to the mother, and some advice about 
controlling her temper. The lesson, 
though, was a wholesome one. 

It is impossible in a book of this kind to 
discuss all the possible reasons for indi- 
gestion in the baby, but if by carefully 
watching the cause (for there is always 
one) nothing can be found, consult the 
physician, but do not let the baby continue 
to have trouble. 

Greater care and watchfulness are neces- 
sary for the bottle-fed than for the breast- 
fed baby. With the latter, nature regu- 
lates the milk to suit the child's growing 
needs, but when he has to have artificial 
feeding, it requires sense and good judg- 
ment to manage it rightly. A formula 
suitable at one time will have to be changed 
as the baby grows older. The quality of 
the milk may not always be the same, and 
for one reason or another modifications 
from time to time are necessary. 

In a previous chapter were given the 
signs of a healthy, normal child : A gradual 
though not necessarily uniform increase 
in weight ; much, and quiet, sleep with nat- 



THE SICK BABY 179 

ural, and not labored, breathing; no vomit- 
ing, and daily movements of normal con- 
sistency from the bowels. 

The baby who fulfills these requirements 
need give his parents no anxiety; when, 
however the child deviates from these the 
matter should be looked into, and the cause 
found. 

If the baby is not gaining weight without 
special signs of indigestion, increase the 
proportions of all ingredients. If he has 
habitual colic, put in less of the full milk. 
Occasionally a baby is seen who frequently 
has more or less green stools, but appar- 
ently little or no pain, and sometimes an 
ounce of barley water before each feeding 
will be necessary besides reducing the full 
milk. 

To prepare barley water, take one heap- 
ing tablespoonful of barley flour to one 
pint of water. Boil for half an hour, strain 
and add water to make one pint. If 
wanted stronger, use twice that amount of 
barley to the pint of water. If the child 
vomits right after eating, reduce the cream, 
and sometimes it is necessary to reduce 
the full milk also. If he is constipated, in- 



180 MOTHER AND BABY 

crease both cream and full milk, and give 
plenty of clear, cold drinking water be- 
sides. 

It often happens that a child is suddenly 
seized with diarrhea and vomiting. In 
that case, while waiting for the physician 
'stop all food, and give castor oil. Water 
(boiled) given in small quantities is often 
taken with great eagerness, but if it in- 
duces vomiting, stop this also. It is of 
great benefit to allow the stomach absolute 
rest. When the feeding is commenced 
again, give small quantities of a weaker 
preparation, and increase to the normal 
strength gradually. 

The trouble is caused by infection. 
Something is wrong, and generally it is 
with the milk supply. It is necessary that 
the cows be kept clean, the udders washed, 
and the hands and clothes of the milker 
immaculate at each milking. The milk 
should be carefully strained, put into a 
covered receptacle, and kept free from con- 
tamination. Neglect of any or all of these 
requirements is all that is necessary to 
bring about these bad cases of bowel trou- 
ble. If the milk used comes from sani- 



THE SICK BABY 181 

tary dairy farms, these precautions are al- 
ways taken, but frequently much careless- 
ness is displayed in private establishments, 
and sanitary measures are entirely dis- 
regarded. 

After one or two attacks of this kind, 
the mother is sorely tempted to try steri- 
lized or Pasteurized milk, or some of the 
much-vaunted baby-foods, when the only 
safe remedy lies in having a good milk sup- 
ply, and giving that without the aid of any- 
thing but the proper modification. 



CHAPTER X 
THE SICK BABY, CONTINUED 

SORE MOUTH. 

A frequent evil following carelessness 
about keeping the bottles and nipples clean, 
as well as failure to wash out the baby's 
mouth after each feeding, is "sore mouth." 

The baby may be somewhat fretful and 
act hungry, snatch for the bottle and try 
to suck, then stop and cry. On examining 
the mouth there will be found white spots 
on the cheeks, tongue, and hard palate 
which looks like curdled milk; when they 
are rubbed it is found that they adhere to 
the mucous membrane. 

Give the child a dose of castor oil, and 
wash the mouth after each feeding most 
carefully, using boracic acid solution. 
Wind a clean piece of linen or absorbent 
cotton round a (clean) finger, dip into the 
solution, and rub very gently but thor- 
oughly all around the mucous membrane. 

182 



THE SICK BABY 183 

See to it that everything pertaining to the 
feeding bottles, nipples, brushes, and jar 
for the nipples is spotlessly clean. If the 
spots do not disappear, send for a physi- 
cian, for sometimes this trouble becomes 
very serious. Of course, delicate children 
are more apt to have this, and it sometimes 
leads to a grave condition. This is also 
often accompanied by diarrhea, and the 
skin around the anus and in the groins be- 
comes red and chafed. 

Wash the buttocks after every move- 
ment of the bowels. Use a soft cloth with 
soap and tepid boiled water. The parts 
must be perfectly clean. Then dip a piece 
of absorbent cotton into milk of magnesia 
and gently sop all over the red surface and 
let it dry on. The skin will become nor- 
mal shortly, and stay so if kept clean. 

PROLAPSE OF THE BOWEL. 

One of the bad effects of trying to teach 
a child who is too young to use his chair 
instead of soiling the diaper is prolapse 
of the rectum. It was mentioned in an- 
other chapter that prolapse comes from 
other causes than this, and, unless il can 



184 MOTHER AND BABY 

be remedied by care on the mother's part, 
it may become very distressing for the 
child. It may be caused by the straining 
of constipation, or as a result of diarrhea 
and, while at first it is only a slight pro- 
trusion of the large bowel which appears 
every time it is opened, later more of the 
bowel comes down not only in defecation, 
but on every provocation, such as sneezing, 
coughing, etc. Treatment for this should 
begin with the first sign of protrusion. 
Gently replace the bowel immediately, wash 
the parts with cold water freely. Never 
allow a child to strain at stool, but keep the 
movements soft. One excellent method to 
prevent this is allowing him to lie down 
with a diaper under him. Otherwise the 
buttocks should be pressed together if he is 
allowed to sit on his chair. 

If these things are not successful, more 
active measures will have to be resorted 
to. 

CONSTIPATION. 

A frequent disease in the bottle-fed 
baby, and also found in the breast-fed, is 
constipation. The movements are too in- 
frequent or too hard, and often both. 



THE SICK BABY 185 

Do not use any drugs, but regulate the 
diet of the mother when the baby is nursed, 
and of the baby when it is bottle-fed. The 
first thing is plenty of water for the baby 
to drink ; after the first two months orange 
juice every morning. One teaspoonful of 
olive oil once a day in two doses is good. 
These will generally bring him to terms. 

After a child is a few months old, put 
him on his chair at the same time every 
day, and hold there for five minutes or so. 
In this way regular habits can be estab- 
lished very early, and they are of inesti- 
mable value. If, when the baby is placed on 
his chair, he is kept quiet and not played 
with or diverted, the end is accomplished 
sooner. This is an important point which 
many people entirely forget, that strict at- 
tention to the business in hand is the way 
to impress the child with its importance. 
This point must often be borne in mind 
long after baby days. 

There is another point of great impor- 
tance, that is, the posture. At first the 
baby is hold up in position, but when he is 
old enough to sit up by himself he should 
do so. A child should sit so that his knees 



186 MOTHER AND BABY 

are well up above the level of the abdomen. 
The chair should be low, and the feet sup- 
ported by a block. He should never sit 
with his feet dangling down, for in this 
way the wrong set of muscles is brought 
into play, which is in itself a detriment. 

The use of suppositories is not alto- 
gether desirable, though occasionally they 
are of service. A cheap device is a home- 
made smooth soap-stick, cut out of castile 
soap, two inches long, about one-half inch 
thick at the base and tapering to the top. 
It must be rubbed smooth and covered with 
vaseline before using. 

For the immediate evacuation of the 
bowels, an enema of warm salt water, one 
teaspoonful of salt to a pint of water, or of 
soap and water is very good. Four to 
eight ounces of water may be used for 
young babies, but for older children a 
larger amount of water is better. 

There are many times when a high enema 
is more efficient than a low one, but it 
should be ordered by the doctor. It is a 
simple thing to do, and, if carefully man- 
aged, quite harmless. Use a medium-sized 
rectal tube, fasten it to the nozzle of the 



THE SICK BABY 187 

syringe, and allow the water to run through 
this, as through the simple nozzle. Vase- 
line the end and insert into the rectum. As 
soon as the point is well in, allow the water 
to run; that keeps it from doubling on it- 
self. Use no force, and allow the water 
to run slowly. The tube can be inserted 
several inches with no pain, and it must be 
vaselined as it is urged along. The high 
enema clears the bowels much more thor- 
oughly, which makes it of great value at 
times. 

If the mass in the bowels is hard, one- 
half ounce of warm sweet oil injected into 
the bowels, and retained if possible, is effi- 
cacious. This should be put in with a rub- 
ber syringe. The same is true if glycerine 
is used. This is rather thick and will not 
run out of the nozzle unless the opening 
is large. 

One-half teaspoonful of glycerine in six 
teaspoonfuls of water is often very satis- 
factory, but sometimes glycerine with no 
water is better. In this case, use about 
one-half ounce of warm glycerine, and be 
sure that the syringe is also warm before 
trying to expel such a thick substance. 



188 MOTHER AND BABY 

Patience and perseverance with the diet, 
aided by an occasional dose of olive oil or 
an enema, will usually do the work, and 
are decidedly to be preferred to the use 
of drugs which should never be resorted to 
until everything else fails. 

CONVULSIONS. 

There are few things more terrifying to 
a mother than to see her baby have a con- 
vulsion. The family physician may live 
within a stone's throw but he is rarely to 
be found on these occasions, and something 
must be done immediately. 

Remove the child's clothes with as little 
disturbance as possible and put him into 
a mustard bath — temperature about 105°. 
Keep the head cool by wet cloths, and rub 
the body and extremities well. Give an 
enema of soapsuds as soon as possible, 
for these seizures are very frequently 
caused by improper diet. When the child 
can swallow, give a dose of castor oil. 

For giving the baby an enema, the old- 
fashioned Davidson syringe is very good. 
Have five or six ounces of water if the pa- 
tient is very small — and more for an older 



THE SICK BABY 189 

child — in a bowl; then just before insert- 
ing the nozzle, which must be small-sized 
for a small baby, draw a little water 
through the tube and expel it. This drives 
out the air, and heats the tube. Cover the 
end of the nozzle with vaseline, and gently 
insert it into the rectum. Never use the 
least force. 

Allow the water to run as soon as the 
nozzle is in place, and let it go very slowly. 
By so doing there is no danger of injuring 
the child. 

The baby should be placed on his back, 
on a pad or heavy towel, and as soon as 
the nozzle is withdrawn, place the hand 
close against the rectum to help keep the 
water in for a time before it is discharged. 

In case a mustard bath is for any reason 
out of the question, a mustard pack can 
be substituted and is made as follows : 

"Strip the child and lay him on a blanket, and 
the body is surrounded by a large towel saturated 
with mustard water. This is made by putting 
one tablespoonful of mustard to one quart of 
tepid water. In this a towel is dipped and while 
dripping is wound around the entire body. The 
patient should then be rolled in a blanket. 



190 MOTHER AND BABY 

' ' This pack may be continued for ten or fifteen 
minutes, at the end of which time there will 
usually be a very decided redness of the whole 
body." 1 

After a baby has had a convulsion, no 
matter whether it was slight or severe, he 
should be kept very quiet for at least 
twenty-four hours or even longer. An at- 
tack of this kind is always hard on the 
nervous system, and the patient who has 
had one requires very soothing, gentle 
handling. 

It is often a great temptation for the 
excited, frightened mother, after the relief 
has come, to pet and caress the baby, but 
every one who has to do with the child 
should be on his guard not to disturb or 
excite him in the least. Undue excitement 
predisposes to more attacks, and frequent 
convulsions are serious. Indeed a physi- 
cian's advice is imperative. 

A large amount of plum pudding eaten 
by a very small child brought on such a 
severe convulsion that it seemed as though 
the child would die in spite of the doctor's 

i Holt's Diseases of Children, p. 52. 



THE SICK BABY 191 

efforts. Whether this particular form of 
indiscretion was repeated or not cannot 
be recorded, for the case was lost sight of 
years ago, but it will be some years longer 
before the frightened looks of the terrified 
mother will be forgotten. 

COLIC. 

Colic is one of the frequent disturbances 
of early baby days, and causes much un- 
happiness to everybody in the family. 
There is a strong, hard cry which comes 
suddenly, and returns every few minutes, 
the feet are drawn up, and the muscles of 
the face are contorted, and there are other 
signs evident of pain. The abdomen is 
tense and hard. When the attack ap- 
pears give the baby an enema of warm 
water, and apply heat to the abdomen and 
feet. Hot compresses, that is, pieces of 
flannel wrung out of hot water applied to 
the abdomen, are very soothing. Add ten 
drops of turpentine to the water to increase 
its efficacy if necessary. The flannel 
should be changed often enough not to allow 
it to cool, and after the flannel is put on 
the abdomen it should be covered with a 



192 MOTHER AND BABY 

dry piece. The enema is given to expel 
the gas, and if warm water will not do it, 
two ounces of cold water with one-half 
teaspoonful of glycerine rarely fails to ac- 
complish it. If hot-water bags are used, 
never fill them, for the weight is objection- 
able if too full. For this reason, hot 
stupes on the abdomen are better. Place 
a hot-water bag at the feet of the child. 

If colic appears in a breast-fed baby, not 
infrequently the trouble is caused by too 
much of the proteids in the milk, and can 
be remedied by giving the child one ounce 
of water or barley water before each feed- 
ing, and having the bowels move at least 
twice a day. 

In one of the writer's cases, the trouble 
was remedied by having the mother eat 
a light supper, and have her dinner in the 
middle of the day. 

A point to be remembered in a colicky 
bottle-fed baby is that digestion is apt to 
be slow, so that the intervals between the 
feedings should be made at least one half 
an hour longer than otherwise would be 
considered proper. 



THE SICK BABY 193 

TEETHING. 

A great deal of importance has always 
been attached to the process of teething, 
and many of the illnesses of baby days 
is attributed to this. As a matter of fact, 
the great majority of healthy children get 
their teeth with but little inconvenience to 
themselves, and many children go through 
this period with no disturbance whatever. 

The normal age for a child to get the 
first teeth, and the order of their coming is 
subject to wide variation. So great is the 
range that no very adequate rule can be 
given. The two lower incisors generally 
come first, but even this is by no means 
necessary. Next the four upper incisors 
appear; then the lower lateral incisors and 
four anterior molars. Then the canines 
(eye and stomach teeth) and then the pos- 
terior molars. 

The teeth may begin to appear at almost 
any age after about the fifth month. The 
last ones usually come some time during 
the third year. 

Just as the teeth are ready to come 
through, the gums are often somewhat 
red and sore, and occasionally there is 



194 MOTHER AND BABY 

considerable swelling. Bubbing them will 
relieve this condition and usually that is all 
that is necessary. All this passes over in 
a short time, and beyond a temporary 
disturbance, nothing more is likely to 
happen. 

When, however, there are marked signs 
of indigestion accompanying the eruption 
of the teeth, it is generally a coincidence, 
but the disorder needs to be rectified, from 
whatever cause. No diarrhea, especially in 
the summer, must be neglected or allowed 
to continue because it is considered to be 
merely "teething." In hot weather the 
amount of food should be reduced — much 
trouble will be saved for the child by just 
this one precaution. For he is far more 
likely to be overfed than underfed. In 
warm weather, the system requires less 
food, thus less work should be put upon the 
digestive apparatus. 

The mistake that mothers make is think- 
ing that with the getting of the teeth a 
diarrhea is inevitable, and for this reason 
needs no treatment, or in other words, that 
to have teething babies sick is quite to be 
expected. 






THE SICK BABY 195 

The eruption of the teeth is a physiolog- 
ical process, and beyond a local and 
temporary disorder should give no trouble. 
When the other symptoms appear, they 
are generally due to other causes and 
should be treated promptly. One green 
stool is a danger signal well worth con- 
sideration, and the mortality list for neg- 
lecting to regard this sign is enormous 
every year. 

WHOOPING COTJGH. 

Whooping cough, a very prevalent con- 
tagious disease of childhood, as it is seen at 
all seasons of the year, is one of the 
most fatal of the contagious diseases. The 
fatality is due to the fearful complications 
which follow it, especially pneumonia, tu- 
berculosis, convulsions, and, in the summer, 
affections of the bowels. It is probably 
contagious during the whole attack, and 
for this reason children should not be al- 
lowed to go into the street, trolley-cars, 
trains, or any public place with whooping 
cough. 

A person is occasionally seen who has 
been twice afflicted with this most trouble- 



196 MOTHER AND BABY 

some disorder, but ordinarily one attack is 
all. 

The disease may be severe, or so mild 
that it is hardly noticeable. In babies it is 
particularly dangerous. It begins with 
what seems like a simple cold, and a cough 
which is worse at night. Soon, however, it 
is seen that the cough does not yield to 
treatment and assumes the form of par- 
oxysms, which grow more and more se- 
vere. If there is frequent vomiting, the 
child becomes thin and weak. 

The paroxysms are worse at night, and 
are always noticed most where the air of 
the room is not kept fresh. There may be 
only one or two a day, or there may be 
forty or fifty. The average duration of 
the disease is about six weeks, but it may 
be much longer. Occasionally, after the 
whoop has" ceased, and the child seems 
quite well, the cough and whoop may begin 
again, though this secondary attack is not 
contagious. 

It is a fatal mistake to feel that whoop- 
ing cough is so mild that home treatment 
is all that is needed. There is no way to 
arrest the disease, for it has to run its 



THE SICK BABY 197 

course, but good care can relieve the worst 
symptoms and the physician should be con- 
sulted. Even then it may be hopeless. 
The child should be carefully nourished, 
especially when the vomiting is severe. 
The severity of the vomiting can be greatly 
lessened by having the child wear an ab- 
dominal binder. He should be kept in 
the open air as much as possible, and sleep 
in a room well ventilated. The bedding 
should be changed at least twice a week, 
and the night dress oftener. Fresh air 
and marked cleanliness help keep down 
the number of paroxysms. 

No child who has whooping cough should 
be allowed to be with other children. A 
little three-months-old baby contracted it 
from a neighbor's child who was at large, 
and died from convulsions. It certainly 
seems a trifle unneighborly utterly to dis- 
regard others' comfort and welfare, sim- 
ply because it is not easy to keep a restless 
child within bounds. 

MEASLES. 

The most frequent, and decidedly the 
most contagious, of the infectious diseases 



198 MOTHER AND BABY 

is measles. It is not often seen in very 
young babies, but after the first year it 
can come at any age. One attack is not 
absolute proof against a second, though 
usually one is all that a patient will have. 
Many cases are light, and no serious after- 
effects are noticed ; for this reason it is re- 
garded as an insignificant affection and is 
treated by many in a very cursory manner. 
As a matter of fact, it is a serious thing, 
causing many deaths by the complications 
which may follow, pneumonia being the 
most frequent, while many cases of deaf- 
ness and impaired eyesight are the direct 
result of measles. 

Members of the family are not compe- 
tent to pronounce the disease cured, but 
because they feel that they are, it is noth- 
ing unusual to see children in the street 
or schools still suffering from the trouble, 
and in prime condition to spread it through 
the community. Thus many of our epi- 
demics are started and kept up. 

The disease begins with a cold, eyes 
running, sneezing, and a heavy, stupid 
expression of face. The rash appears 
from the second to the fourth day, on the 



THE SICK BABY 199 

face first, and then spreading over the 
body. The face is entirely covered and 
often much swelled, giving the patient a 
most unnatural appearance. The spots 
are purplish red papules which later coa- 
lesce in groups, crescent-shaped, and very 
characteristic. There may be diarrhea, 
and a more or less severe cough which 
only stops with the fever. The eyes are 
red and inflamed, and intolerant of light, 
unless they are bathed freely with boracic 
acid solution, protected, and not used, and 
are often left in an inflammatory condi- 
tion troublesome throughout life. The 
patient must be protected from cold. A 
bath given every day with bicarbonate of 
soda relieves the itching, after which sweet 
oil should be rubbed all over the body. 
There is no peeling or desquamation as in 
scarlet fever. The patient should be 
isolated to protect the other children 
if possible. The disease can not be car- 
ried by a third person unless great care- 
lessness is practised. If a handkerchief 
is used as common property for the 
sick child and other members of the 
family there is no reason why the disease 



200 MOTHER AND BABY 

may not be transported to any number. 
The discharge from the eyes and nose is 
highly contagious. 

SCARLET FEVER. 

Scarlet fever, scarlatina, scarlet rash 
are one and the same, and one of the com- 
monest diseases of childhood. It occurs 
any time of the year. It is rare for a 
child to have it under one year of age, and 
very rare under six months. It is con- 
tagious both by personal contact, and pos- 
sibly by means of a third person, and the 
germs possess remarkable vitality. 

Dr. Kerley tells the following anecdote: 
"A little girl four years of age, who 
lived in one of the Hudson Valley villages, 
contracted scarlet fever while on a visit to 
a neighboring town ; the case was a severe 
one and the child died. A coat which she 
had worn when stricken with the disease 
was considered too valuable to be destroyed 
and was carefully laid away in a bureau 
drawer. Twelve months later the mother 
decided to give the coat to a neighbor's 
child. It was removed from the bureau, 
which had remained unopened, and placed 



THE SICK BABY 201 

on the little one. In five days she was at- 
tacked with scarlet fever. These were the 
only two cases that had occurred in the vil- 
lage. The second child had not been away 
from home, and the jacket was the only 
possible means of infection." 1 

The disease may be carried by means of 
toys, books, etc., and the greatest care has 
to be exercised to keep it from spreading. 

The attack may be so mild that it is 
overlooked, or so severe that death occurs 
in a few hours. A child with the mildest 
form is quite capable of giving another 
child the most severe type. The onset is 
sudden, occasionally beginning with a con- 
vulsion, usually with sore throat, fever, 
and, generally, vomiting. The rash may 
appear within twenty-four hours, usually 
first about the chest and neck, then grad- 
ually spreading all over the body ; the face 
has less than other parts, and generally 
there is a white space around the mouth 
which is very characteristic. There is no 
disease in all medicine which may be more 
baffling and difficult to diagnose than this, 
and none with more contradictory symp- 

i Short Talks to Young Hfothers. 



202 MOTHER AND BABY 

toms. There are many variations about 
the rash, and occasionally it is of such 
short duration as to escape notice. It 
consists of minute red dots so closely set 
together as to give the skin a deep scarlet 
color. The color increases for a few days, 
then fades away gradually, lasting alto- 
gether about a week; the skin begins to 
peel in large or small shreds. This char- 
acteristic desquamation is of a variable ex- 
tent, and frequently too slight to be de- 
tected, except with a magnifying glass, 
but generally very noticeable about the 
hands and feet, and lasts for a variable 
length of time. It may stop and then be- 
gin again, so that no child can be pro- 
nounced well until at least ten days after 
all signs of desquamation have stopped. 

The disease is always alarming, for a 
mild case may become severe ; pneumonia, 
inflammation of the ears, abscesses of the 
glands in the neck or Bright 's disease can 
follow any form. 

Bright 's disease, especially, may appear 
very late in the convalescent period. Ev- 
ery precaution must be taken to guard 
against cold. While there is any fever, 



THE SICK BABY 203 

and for days after it has left, it is better to 
keep the patient in bed. The child should 
be bathed carefully every day and oiled 
with sweet oil or vaseline, to prevent the 
particles of skin from flying around. 

In certain localities, where there is a 
Board of Health, many devices are re- 
sorted to in order to keep the authorities 
from knowing of the presence of scarlet 
fever. Here again is shown a selfish dis- 
regard for others which is always liable 
to bring great disaster to innocent unsus- 
pecting neighbors. 

MTTMPS. 

This is a painful, but not usually dan- 
gerous, inflammation of the salivary glands 
which are situated in front, below, and 
behind the ears, and below the jaws. 

It seldom attacks young infants, though 
it is distinctly contagious. 

The disease usually begins with dull- 
ness, some fever, and pain about the jaws, 
generally on one side. A swelling situ- 
ated below and slightly behind the ear 
rapidly develops. There is tenderness on 
pressure, chewing is painful, and often im- 



204 MOTHER AND BABY 

possible. Sometimes the mouth can 
scarcely be opened. After a day or two 
the other side becomes affected. 

The patient should be kept in bed on soft 
diet, and the bowels kept well open; hot 
fomentations applied to relieve the pain. 
The trouble will subside in a few days. 
Quarantine should be kept up for at least 
ten days after the symptoms have disap- 
peared. Disastrous consequences with 
older children have followed in the wake 
of mumps unless great care is taken. 

CHICKEN POX. 

This is a very common contagious dis- 
ease not often seen in a child under six 
months of age — nor does it occur in any 
one the second time. There are no marked 
symptoms, generally speaking, nor are 
there any after-effects as a rule. Dr. 
Kerley speaks of one bad case of Bright 's 
disease which he saw, but that is unusual. 

The disease consists of an eruption 
which appears usually first on the neck 
and trunk in small red spots which change 
to vesicles filled with a clear, watery fluid ; 
later these dry up, leaving a scab. The 



THE SICK BABY 205 

itching is often very trying, and can be re- 
lieved by bathing with boracic acid solu- 
tion and water, or a strong solution of 
baking-soda and water. A small child 
had better be kept in bed until the crusts 
are formed, and quarantine should be con- 
tinued until the skin is clear. 

If the sores are scratched they may be- 
come infected. 

COLDS. 

The baby may take cold from contact 
with other people who have colds, or from 
undue exposure, living in overheated 
rooms, or being dressed too warmly — to 
say nothing of having the same handker- 
chief used for him which has been used by 
others. No baby is too young to have his 
own handkerchief, especially when there 
are several in a family affected alike with 
colds. 

As the first signs of the trouble appear, 
give the baby a dose of castor oil, and if 
there is any tendency to cough and hoarse- 
ness, rub the chest with camphorated oil 
and then protect the chest by placing flan- 
nel over it. Give plenty of water — as 



206 MOTHER AND BABY 

much as the child wants or will drink. 
Have plenty of fresh air in the room. 
The habit of giving sweet spirits of nitre 
is not to be commended. 

If the child appears sick, send for the 
physician. Colds may become serious and, 
unless broken right up, need skilled atten- 
tion. 

Children afflicted with enlarged tonsils 
or adenoids are constantly catching colds, 
and are better subjects for tonsilitis, 
diphtheria, and for diseases in general, 
than the normal child. The defects can 
generally be remedied in baby days, and 
by so doing will save the family much 
misery. 

CATARRHAL CROTJP. 

This disease, though alarming, is rarely 
dangerous. It frequently follows cold or 
exposure to damp winds. The child may 
show signs of an ordinary cold, growing 
hoarse toward night, and coughing with 
a peculiar metallic sound. After having 
been asleep a few hours, the baby wakes 
suddenly, sits upright and gasps for 
breath. Breathing is very difficult, the 



THE SICK BABY 207 

face becomes covered with perspiration 
and bluish in color. This stage only lasts 
a short time, though the child may be rest- 
less and distressed for breath for some 
time longer. After a while he drops to 
sleep and rests quietly the rest of the 
night. There may be several of these at- 
tacks, or only one. 

Treatment consists in causing the child 
to vomit immediately. Give a teaspoon- 
ful of vaseline — three or four drops of 
kerosene on a lump of sugar will be effect- 
ive — and put hot fomentations on the 
throat and chest. In the morning move 
the bowels well with castor oil. 

A child who has this tendency should 
be guarded from taking cold, though he 
should have fresh air in his room at night. 
Every day the throat and chest should be 
washed in cold water and rubbed until de- 
cidedly red. The general system should 
be toned up, if the child is otherwise deli- 
cate, and great care taken that the diges- 
tion is in good order. If adenoids are 
present, have them treated. 



208 MOTHER AND BABY 

BOILS. 

Boils are common in little babies, and 
are caused by infection from without, and 
are not, as is often supposed, due to bad 
condition of the blood. If the baby is not 
well, he is, of course, much more easily af- 
fected by any abnormal condition, and the 
first boil is not infrequently followed by 
others. 

Never poultice the boil, but open early 
to let the pus out, then wash thoroughly 
the surrounding skin, and cover with sev- 
eral thicknesses of clean linen wet with 
boracic solution, or with witch hazel. 

Poultices make the surrounding tissues 
particularly liable to infection, with the re- 
sult that, instead of one, there will be sev- 
eral boils to be treated. 

RUPTURE. 

Many babies have a rupture or hernia— 
that is, a protrusion of the bowels through 
some weak spot in the muscle — which 
causes a soft, round swelling. This may be 
most often seen in the navel, occasionally 
in the groin. It is most prominent when 
the child cries, and disappears when he 






THE SICK BABY 209 

lies down. In very small babies, if it is 
the navel which is affected, three or four 
pieces of adhesive plaster pnt on like a 
star will generally bring about a cure. 

The swelling must be pressed down, and 
the plaster stretched on one side, then 
pulled over to the other. The three pieces 
so put on that the swelling will be right 
under the middle of the three layers of 
plaster where they are crossed. 

If, however, this is not satisfactory, the 
physician must be consulted, for grave 
consequences follow neglect, as a hernia 
allowed to go on is always dangerous. 

VACCINATION. 

Every child in fair health should be 
vaccinated, and the age when this is best 
is when a baby. In many of the States 
no child is allowed to go to school unless 
this has been done, and if done with sur- 
gical cleanliness there is no danger of any 
of the fearful consequences believed by 
some to be almost inevitable. Occasion- 
ally unusual conditions are reported, but 
these are due to carelessness rather than 
to the virus. One great source of danger 






210 MOTHER AND BABY 

is the so-called "vaccination cap" used 
to protect sores. These dam back the pus 
and cause auto-infection, and more than 
one case of lockjaw has been caused by 
these vicious "protectors." After the 
child has been vaccinated, care should be 
taken that the bowels move freely. If 
there is any tendency to constipation, a 
laxative should be given. The sore should 
be covered with clean, dry gauze, and kept 
covered until the scab begins to dry. Be- 
yond a somewhat painful sore which lasts 
for several days, nothing happens in the 
majority of cases, and where the opera- 
tion has been properly performed and the 
vaccine has "taken" it renders that par- 
ticular child practically immune from 
smallpox for at least a number of years. 
After six or seven years the operation 
should be repeated, especially if one lives 
in a locality where cases of smallpox occur 
from time to time. That this is one of the 
most remarkable discoveries in medicine, 
most people admit ; nevertheless occasional 
denunciations of it are made. The proc- 
ess known as "internal vaccination" is 
quite worthless. There are only two ways 



THE SICK BABY 211 

of becoming immune from this terrible 
scourge; one is to have the disease itself, 
and the other the much simpler method 
above mentioned, but there is nothing 
taken by mouth as a medicine which is of 
any value. It is certainly surprising that 
in this enlightened age any procedure 
which has been of such incalculable good 
to the human race should have to be de- 
fended, and that in spite of all statistics 
and facts any one should still denounce 
vaccination as cruel, inhuman, etc. It is 
not within the scope of this volume to 
enter into a lengthy discussion of the sub- 
ject. The history of the change brought 
about in the Philippines since vaccination 
has been introduced is in itself an argu- 
ment quite sufficient for most "open 
minds." 

"In 1871 Germany lost one hundred and 
forty-three thousand lives by smallpox. 
In 1874 a law was enacted making vaccina- 
tion obligatory during the first year of 
life, and compelling its repetition during 
the tenth year. The result was that the 
disease almost entirely disappeared. At 



212 MOTHER AND BABY 

pox throughout the empire is scarcely one 
hundred a year. 

"At the time of the Franco-Prussian 
War, the entire German army was revac- 
cinated; while in the French army, vacci- 
nation being optional, comparatively few 
were vaccinated. Both armies were at- 
tacked by smallpox, the French losing 
twenty-three thousand men, the Germans 
two hundred and seventy-eight ! " 1 

BURNS AND SCALDS. 

Burns and scalds are frequent catastro- 
phic s with small children. Though pro- 
duced in different ways — a scald from 
contact with a hot fluid, and a burn from 
contact with a flame or dry heat of some 
sort — the results are much alike. The 
danger to life from a burn depends upon 
its extent, while the amount of deformity 
depends upon the depth. 

Only small burns should be treated by 
the mother. Shock may follow what 
seems to her rather a small affair, and is 
therefore an element of danger to be reck- 

i Dr. Kebley's Short Talks to Young Mothers. Page 
217. 



THE SICK BABY 213 

oned with in all burns more than really 
slight. If there are blisters, they should 
be carefully opened with a needle, the point 
of which should be passed through a flame 
to render it surgically clean, then place 
several layers of clean cloth wet with a 
strong solution of baking soda — a heaping 
teaspoonful to a glass of water — over the 
burned area. As soon as the pain sub- 
sides, oxide-of-zinc ointment may be put on 
it. Boracic acid, one teaspoonful to an 
ounce of vaseline, makes an excellent oint- 
ment. 

If the child's clothes are on fire, he 
should be thrown on the floor and rolled in 
a piece of carpet, rug, or coat — anything 
that will smother the flames. If it should 
chance that a pail or tub of water be near 
at hand, plunge the child into it, which 
is far better. Running about the room 
only fans the flames and makes matters 
worse. As soon as the flames are ex- 
tinguished, put the child into bed, and 
give him plenty of fresh air. Keep him 
quiet, and be sure that the feet are warm. 
Use a hot-water bag if necessary, and be 
very calm yourself. Children are easily 



214 MOTHER AND BABY 

excited, and a mother who keeps her head 
cool has a great advantage. 

Remove the burned garments cautiously, 
and if the skin is burned, each exposed 
area must be covered as soon as possible 
with a dressing of carron oil — equal parts 
of olive oil and lime water — or a strong 
solution of baking powder. Bicarbonate of 
soda or baking powder is generally more 
convenient and it is clean and odorless — 
two great advantages. 

Burns produced by carbolic acid are best 
treated by alcohol. Burns from other 
acids should be treated with dry baking 
soda. 

Burns produced by a strong alkali should 
be treated with water and vinegar or lemon 
juice. 

FOREIGN BODIES SWALLOWED. 

Babies and small children have a marked 
tendency toward swallowing anything small 
enough to be put into the mouth, such as 
buttons, safety-pins, coins, etc. If the 
child succeeds in doing this unnoticed, 
there is generally no further trouble and 
no one is any the wiser until some unex- 
pected article is passed with the stool. 






THE SICK BABY 215 

Owing to this propensity, small children 
should not have highly colored toys like 
painted blocks, for in trying to swallow 
them, the paint is swallowed instead. Any 
part of a toy animal which can be taken 
off or out, as the whistles that so many 
rubber beasts have, should be removed be- 
fore the baby is given the toy. Otherwise 
it will go as most other things do, down 
the throat. 

If the child is known to have swallowed 
anything unlawful, never give a cathartic. 
Soft substances like oatmeal, mush, pota- 
toes, or even bread will do very well to 
allow the object to become buried in, and 
carried forward in the digestive tract. If 
the object has gone down, the probability 
is that it will be safely carried on through 
the entire alimentary tract. A dose of 
castor oil or anything of that nature may 
do great harm. It is not necessary to 
worry, but wait. 

EARACHE. 

Earache is a common affliction of child- 
hood, often beginning in baby days. The 
pain is severe, causing a baby to shriek 



216 MOTHER AND BABY 

hard and long. The seat of the trouble 
can often be detected by pressure in front 
of, or just behind, the ear. If the child is 
old enough he will bury his head in the 
pillow, or pull at his ear. Sometimes older 
children refer to the mouth as the place 
where the pain is. Occasionally, the only 
clearly defined symptom is a yellowish dis- 
charge from the ear, and a markedly dis- 
agreeable odor. 

Inflammed nose or throat is often re- 
sponsible for earache. Sometimes no 
cause can be found. To relieve the pain, 
heat is the best. Syringing the ear out 
with hot water is also very soothing. This 
can be done with a small syringe, or with 
a common douche bag held about two feet 
higher than the child's head. After the 
water has been used turn the head so that 
it will all run out. The mother should 
carefully test the nozzle and the heat of the 
water. Children have been badly burned 
by carelessness about this. A hot-water 
bag arranged for the patient to lie on gives 
much comfort or, better still, a hot salt 
bag. A small piece of muslin made into 
a baa: and filled with salt and heated is an 



THE SICK BABY 217 

excellent remedy for pain, and retains the 
heat for a long time. If there is any dis- 
charge, consult some physician, for deaf- 
ness is very apt to follow, and many a 
grown person is going through life hin- 
dered from doing his best by the deafness 
which is a result of the carelessness or in- 
difference of his parents. A discharge 
from the ear invariably needs attention 
and should never be ignored. 

ECZEMA. 

Eczema is one of the most troublesome 
diseases of childhood, and common in little 
babies. It is brought about by a variety 
of causes both internal and external, and 
not infrequently no cause can be discov- 
ered. 

Improper diet, lack of cleanliness, bad 
hygiene, and inherited tendency are all 
factors. 

The external causes are all kinds of irri- 
tants. The skin of a baby is very delicate, 
and bad inflammatory conditions arise from 
every little lack of care. Excessive per- 
spiration, strong soaps, cheap toilet pow- 
ders, discharge from the nose or ears, but 



218 MOTHER AND BABY 

principally lack of proper bathing, are all 
responsible. 

The internal cause is generally indiges- 
tion, found in both bottle-fed and breast- 
fed babies. In the latter case, the mother 
should be treated as well as the child. In 
the case of a bottle-fed child, the diet must 
receive attention. 

Absorbent cotton should be laid between 
opposing surfaces, and milk of magnesia 
used freely on a properly clean surface is 
very effective. Burnt flour is an old-fash- 
ioned remedy and very good. 

If the trouble has assumed very consider- 
able proportions, bathing must be omitted. 
Water is an irritant to an eczematous sur- 
face, and must therefore be used very spar- 
ingly. The most frequent form is when 
the skin becomes bright red and covered 
with minute vesicles. These soon rupture, 
leaving the surface swollen, red, and mois- 
tened with a watery discharge which may 
thicken and form crusts with raw flesh 
beneath. In another form, the skin is dry, 
perhaps cracking easily. There are sev- 
eral varieties, any of which may cause in- 
tense itching until the child is almost fran- 



THE SICK BABY 219 

tic, and as it is worse at night he loses 
much sleep. 

The baby should have a dose of castor 
oil, and its hands tied up in mittens to 
keep from scratching, which makes the 
trouble worse and harder to cure. The 
best treatment here is prevention when this 
is possible, for often eczema is so persist- 
ent that the patience of the physician and 
mother is sorely tried before the siege is 
over. 

HIVES. 

A trouble often seen in children is famil- 
iarly known as hives. The most frequent 
type consists of many or few large wheals, 
firm, flat, red blotches, which last a few 
hours and then disappear. The most dis- 
tressing symptom is the intense itching. 
The disturbance is usually caused by di- 
gestive trouble, eating some special article 
like strawberries, pastry, nuts, etc., which 
may disagree with one child, while another 
can eat the same thing and feel no bad ef- 
fects. Constipation may also be a factor. 

The treatment consists in avoiding of- 
fending articles as far as they are known, 
and in a restricted diet for a time. The 



220 MOTHER AND BABY 

itching may be relieved by bathing with a 
strong solution of bicarbonate of soda, or 
one teaspoonful of carbolic acid to a pint 
of water. 

HINGWORM. 

Ringworm is a contagious affection, due 
to fungous growth, and very common 
among children. It may appear anywhere 
on the body or face, or in the hair. The le- 
sion consists of a small circular spot which 
gradually enlarges into a brighter red patch 
with a scaly border, and rather a natural 
looking center. If in the hair, the place 
is not red; the hair falls out and leaves 
a scaly circular spot with stumps of the 
broken hair. This is most characteristic. 
The cure of ringworm of the scalp is very 
difficult, and can only be accomplished by 
most patient perseverance. No mother 
should think of trying to do it alone. 

On the face and body, the spots should be 
painted with tincture of iodine until the 
patch disappears. There should be no in- 
terchange of towels or handkerchiefs or any 
toilet articles while there is any ringworm 
present. 



THE SICK BABY 221 

The so-called " mange" in dogs is often 
ringworm, and this is a most prolific source 
of infection where children have pets. The 
disease can be cured in these animals by 
applications of iodine the same as in human 
beings. 

RETENTION OF URINE. 

Eetention of urine is rather a common 
affection, but it usually causes some alarm. 

It may follow an attack of colic, or come 
from taking cold, or be due to some inflam- 
matory condition. 

Be sure that the child has plenty of 
water to drink, then if no urine comes after 
ten or twelve hours apply hot clothes over 
the bladder, or put the child into a tub of as 
hot water as he can bear. A normal salt- 
solution enema — one teaspoonful of salt to 
a pint of water — given as hot as possible 
will almost invariably give relief. As 
much water as possible should be given and 
retained as long as the child can hold it. 
Pressing the hand against the rectum will 
help him retain it. 

If there is any sign of local trouble, of 
course that must be removed. 



222 MOTHER AND BABY 

BED-WETTING. 

After a child is three years old, there 
should be no trouble of this kind provided 
that there is nothing abnormal about him, 
and that he has been well trained. 

Many local conditions such as worms, 
stone in the bladder, lack of cleanliness, 
bad habits, or any inflammatory condition 
may cause it, and nothing but removing the 
cause will cure the trouble. 

Each night the child should be taken up 
at ten or eleven o'clock and made to uri- 
nate. He should be given no fluid after 
five o 'clock, his supper must be as nearly a 
dry meal as possible. Be sure that the 
child does not sleep on his back. To pre- 
vent this, tie a tape around his waist with 
a knot in the back. If these measures are 
not effectual consult a physician. 

RASH FROM POISON IVY. 

This is an intense inflammation of the 
skin produced by contact with certain 
plants and vines. There are a number of 
plants which will cause this dermatitis, of 
which the poison oak or ivy is the most 
common. Some children are very suscep- 



THE SICK BABY 223 

tible, others are not affected by being near 
this, or even handling the leaves. If it is 
known that a child has been exposed, a 
thorough scrubbing with tincture of green 
soap and hot water will often prevent the 
trouble developing. The rash appears 
very soon after exposure, in a few hours at 
least. In this respect it is different from 
eczema which develops slowly. 

The skin becomes swollen, red, hot, and 
itches, and is thickly covered with vesicles 
varying in size from a pin-head to a split 
pea. These soon discharge their watery 
contents, which dry into crusts over the 
surface. The face becomes so swollen that 
the child can scarcely open his eyes, and he 
is really a most distressing-looking object. 

Clean pieces of gauze wrung out of 
lime-water and placed over the inflamed 
surface are as soothing as any of the 
many remedies advocated. They must be 
changed, so that they may be always wet. 
At night a salve can be used instead. Ox- 
ide of zinc, alone, or combined with boracic 
acid and vaseline, makes a very good 
dressing. 



224 MOTHER AND BABY 

Oxide of zinc. Oxide of zinc. 

Boracic acid aa 2 Boracic acid— equal 

parts. 
Vaseline 30. Vaseline — 15 times as 

much. 



RHEUMATISM. 

Kheumatism is a rather frequent trouble 
with young children, and often so very mild 
as to be scarcely noticeable. It may be so 
severe that the pain may be marked, joints 
inflamed and tender, and fever high. But 
whether mild or sharp, the physician should 
be consulted, for many of the heart trou- 
bles of adults began in childhood with rheu- 
matism which was not properly treated. 
So-called growing pains may be, and often 
are, of rheumatic origin. In any case of 
rheumatism the child should be kept quietly 
in bed, fed on a light diet, with no meat, 
and the inflamed joints wrapped in cotton- 
wool, or flannel. 

PEDICTILI. 

Lice are naturally found on the dirty, 
uncared-for children, but any child may 
have them if brought in close contact with 






THE SICK BABY 225 

them. They produce a very disagreeable 
itching of the head which, if scratched until 
the skin is broken, produces an inflamma- 
tion. Not infrequently this inflammation 
spreads down the neck and face until the 
victim may become a very sorry-looking 
object. 

The treatment consists in getting the 
head clean. There are many remedies 
used for this purpose. If the invasion is 
recent, wash the head thoroughly with tinc- 
ture of green soap, and then rub well with 
alcohol. Repeat this operation every other 
day for several washings, and use a fine- 
tooth comb. If there are many nits in the 
hair — minute oval eggs attached to the 
hair, and hard to remove — something more 
radical will have to be done. Kerosene 
may be rubbed into the hair, followed by a 
free use of vinegar to destroy the nits. The 
head should then be washed well with soap 
and water, after which the fine-tooth comb 
inn -I be used, but care must be taken not 
to injure the scalp. This operation if done 
thoroughly is highly successful, but per- 
oaps it may not be superfluous to say that 
lliis last course should not be taken near a 



226 MOTHER AND BABY 

lighted lamp. Tincture of larkspur, or an 
ointment made from the seeds is much 
used. This ointment has to be rubbed in 
for a few days, and then washed out. 

INSECT-STINGS AND BITES, 

Insect-stings are painful, but seldom 
dangerous. If the sting is left in the 
wound it should be pulled out and spirits 
of camphor, or water of ammonia applied. 
The old-fashioned mud application is very 
good. 

Mosquitoes are very prevalent in certain 
localities, and are most annoying. They, 
in common with the ordinary house-fly, are 
not only troublesome, but may be convey- 
ors of disease, which makes them a decided 
menace. Houses should be protected from 
these insects as far as possible by screens 
in doors and windows and care on the part 
of members of the family. If it is impos- 
sible to screen the doors and windows, it is 
comparatively simple to throw a fine mos- 
quito net over the baby's crib. 

It is particularly necessary to protect a 
baby from these pests, owing to his inabil- 
ity to protect himself, and they tend to 



THE SICK BABY 227 

make a baby nervous and fussy. Camphor 
or ammonia water should be used to wash 
mosquito bites to allay the itching. Infec- 
tion caused by scratching with dirty nails is 
not at all uncommon. 

Mosquitoes are distinctly poisonous to 
many children. Flies may, and do, trans- 
port many diseases, viz., tuberculosis, ty- 
phoid fever, cholera, and yellow fever, to 
say nothing of many minor ailments. 



CHAPTER XI 

REMEDIES FOR EXTERNAL USE, AND 
DIETARY 

Albumen Water. 

The raw white of one egg beaten lightly and 
well stirred with a glass of water. It may be 
strained if necessary to give to small baby 
through the bottle. A taste of sugar may be 
added unless ordered otherwise. 

Barley Water. 

One tablespoonful of barley flour into 1 pint 
of water. Boil for y 2 hour, strain, and add 
sufficient boiled water to make 1 pint. 

Barley Water, No. 2. 

2 tablespoonfuls of barley to 1 pint of water, 
if wanted stronger. 

Oatmeal Water. 

1 tablespoonful of oatmeal to 1 pint of boiling 
water, cover and let simmer for 1 hour. Add 
water from time to time as it evaporates ; strain. 
228 



REMEDIES FOR EXTERNAL USE 229 

Rice Water. 

1 tablespoonful of (washed) rice to 1 pint of 
water. Boil three hours, adding water from 
time to time. 

Toast Water. 

One, two, or three slices of bread toasted dark 
brown, but not burned. Put in 1 quart of boil- 
ing water, cover, and strain when cold. 

Arrowroot Water. 

Wet 2 teaspoonfuls of arrowroot with a little 
cold water, and rub until smooth; then stir into 
1 pint of boiling water, and boil for 5 minutes, 
stirring all the while. 

Flaxseed Tea. 

1 tablespoonful of flaxseed, 1 pint of boiling 
water; let stand and keep warm for 1 hour; 
strain. Add juice of lemon. 

Oatmeal Jelly. 

4 tablespoonfuls of oatmeal, 1 pint of water; 
boil for 3 hours in double boiler, adding water 
from time to time; strain. 

Lime Water. 

In two quarts of water place a lump of un- 
slacked lime, size of small egg. Stir and let set- 
tle. Pour off (ii-si water and add fresh. Use 



230 MOTHER AND BABY 

from the top, add water, and stir from time to 
time. Always keep covered. 

Arrowroot Jelly. 

Two tablespoonfuls of arrowroot rubbed with 
a little cold water; add to this 1 pint of water, 
and boil for 5 minutes; stir constantly, and use 
double boiler. 

Beef-Juice. 

Cut thin, juicy meat into pieces one and one- 
half inches square ; broil for 2 minutes over hot 
fire. Squeeze with a hot lemon-squeezer. It 
can be warmed only slightly when serving or it 
will coagulate. Add a little salt. 

Beef-Juice, No. 2. 

Cut into small pieces 1 pound of juicy meat; 
broil for 2 minutes. Add 4 ounces of water, 
stir, and let stand on ice for at least 6 hours. 
Strain through cheese-cloth or muslin by twist- 
ing this hard. Add a little salt, and serve warm, 
or cold. 

Whey. 

1 quart of fresh milk warmed to 98°. Stir 
in one and one-half teaspoonfuls Fairchild's 
Liquid Pepsin. Put into a bowl or pitcher, and 
when set — after about one hour 's time — break 
up thoroughly with silver fork. Heat slowly 






REMEDIES FOR EXTERNAL USE 231 

over fire to 150° ; remove immediately and pour 
into pitcher or jar. It should be stirred all the 
time it is heating. 



ENEMAS. 

Turpentine Enemas. 
No. 1. White of egg (beaten) 
Oil of turpentine — 

add drop by drop. 1 teaspoonful. 

Olive oil 1 teaspoonful. 

Warm water 1 pint. 

No. 2. White of egg (beaten) 

Glycerine 2 ounces. 

Oil turpentine 2 drachms. 

(add drop by drop) 
Warm water 1 pint. 

Glycerine Enema. 

Glycerine 4 drachms. 

Warm soapy water. . . 4 drachms. 

Starch-water Enema. 

Starch 1 ounce. 

Mix with a suffi- 
cient cold water to 
make thick paste ; add 
boiling water until it 
becomes of the con- 
sistency of mucilage. 



232 MOTHER AND BABY 

Normal Salt-water Solution Enema. 

One teaspoonful of 
salt to one pint of 
water. 

REMEDIES TOR EXTERNAL USE. 

Carbolic Acid Lotion. 

Pure carbolic acid ... 30 drops. 
Water 6 ounces. 

Alum Lotion. 

Alum 6 teaspoonfuls. 

Alcohol 8 ounces. 

Water 8 ounces. 

Excellent for pro- 
fuse perspiration, and 
to avert bed sores. 

Lotions for Chapped Hands. 

No. 1. Glycerine 3 ounces. 

Tr. Benzoin £ ounce. 

Water 1 ounce. 

No. 2. Glycerine 2 ounces. 

Lemon juice 

Tr. Myrrh aa £ ounce. 

No. 3. Glycerine 2 ounces. 

Rose Water ' . . . . 2 ounces. 

Acetic Acid 2 ounces. 



REMEDIES FOR EXTERNAL USE 233 

Sweet Oil and Turpentine. 

Xo. 1. Turpentine 1 teaspoonful. 

Sweet oil 8 teaspoonf uls. 

Very useful to rub 
on chest of baby with 
hoarseness or cough. 

No. 2. Turpentine 4 teaspoonfuls. 

Sweet oil 6 teaspoonfuls. 

To use for an adult. 

Carbolized Oil. 

Pure carbolic acid. . .30 drops. 
Olive oil 2 ounces. 

Anything containing carbolic acid should be 
marked POISON and kept well out of reach of 
children. It should not be used on an extensive 
area of surface, but is a valuable remedy if in- 
telligently used. 

Mouth Wash. 

No. 1. Listerine 2 teaspoonfuls. 

Soda bicarbonate .... 10 grs. 

Water 4 ounces. 

No. 2. Tr. Myrrh xxx M. 

Water 1 ounce. 

OINTMENTS. 

Borated Vaseline. 

Boric acid 1 drachm. 

Vaseline 1 ounce. 



234 MOTHER AND BABY 

Carbolated Vaseline. 

Carbolic acid V. M. 

Vaseline 1 ounce. 

Bismuth and Zinc Ointment. 

Lubricate of Bismuth 30 grains. 

Oxide of Zinc 30 grains. 

Lanolin £ ounce. 

Vaseline £ ounce. 

DISINFECTANTS. 

Carbolic Acid. 

Carbolic acid (95%) 6 ounces. 

Glycerine 4 ounces. 

Water 1 gallon. 

Clothes should be soaked in this for several 
hours, then removed in a covered receptacle and 
boiled thoroughly. Sheets may be wet with this 
and hung at the doors in case of infectious dis- 
eases. 

Chloride of Lime. 

Chloride of Lime 4 ounces. 

Water (rain) 1 gallon. 

In typhoid fever, all the movements from the 
bowels should be thoroughly mixed with this, 
covered and allowed to stand several hours be- 



REMEDIES FOR EXTERNAL USE 235 

fore pouring down the water closet. All 
vomited matter should be treated the same way. 

REMEDIES FOR LOCAL USE. 

A poultice contains the heat longer than a fo- 
mentation ; there are occasions when these are of 
great service. They are made of the following 
ingredients for ordinary use. 

Flaxseed Poultice. 

Ground flaxseed £ cupful. 

Olive oil 2 teaspoonf uls. 

Add enough boiling 
water to make a thick 
paste. Cook for a few 
minutes, and beat 
thoroughly. 

Spread this upon muslin and cover over with 
same. Test it to be sure that it is not too hot. 
Kenew in from one to two hours — never let a 
poultice get cold. Everything must be ready be- 
fore the poultice is mixed, or it will be too cool 
for any service. 

Mustard Poultice. 

Mustard 2 parts. 

Ground Flaxseed 4 parts. 

Hot water, sufficient quan- 
tity to make paste. 



236 MOTHER AND BABY 

Bran Poultice. 

A flannel bag is partly filled with bran, thor- 
oughly wet with boiling water, wrung out in a 
towel, and applied. This is much lighter in 
weight than flaxseed, so it is an advantage, where 
there is much tenderness. (Crozer-Griffith.) 

Starch Poultice. 

Thick boiled starch is spread warm on a cloth 
and applied directly to the skin without any 
covering between. It is used to lessen irritation 
in some affections of the skin. 

Spice Poultice. 

Ground ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and allspice ; 
from 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls of each (y 2 teaspoonful 
of Cayenne pepper makes it stronger). Put the 
dry and well-mixed powder into a flannel bag, 
spread it evenly. If bag is quilted it keeps it 
smoother. Before applying, wet it with hot alco- 
hol. This spice-bag may be used repeatedly, 
and is very convenient to have for babies with 
colic. 

Turpentine Stupes. 

3 teaspoonfuls of turpentine to 1 pint of boil- 
ing water. Immerse the flannel and stir. Ke- 
move the flannel and wring it out in a twisted 
towel until it no longer drips. Anoint the skin 



REMEDIES FOR EXTERNAL USE 237 

■with olive oil, and then apply fomentation until 
it causes some discomfort or redness. If allowed 
to remain too long it will blister. (Beck.) 

Mustard Plaster. 

Xo. 1. 

White of one egg. . . . 

Mustard 1 tablespoonful. 

Flour 3 tablespoonfuls. 

Glycerine 1 tablespoonful. 

Beat well and spread between layers of muslin 
or soft linen. 

No. 2. 

1 part mustard. 

3 to 6 parts flour, for an adult. 

10 to 12 parts flour, for a child. 

Add sufficient tepid water to make a thin 
mixture, then spread on linen or gauze. The 
surface of skin should be covered with vaseline 
before the plaster is applied. 

Hop Poultice. 

Prepared and used exactly as is the bran poul- 
tice, over which it has only the advantage of be- 
ing lighter in weight. 

Antiseptic Poultice. 

Useful for open wounds and far superior to 



238 MOTHER AND BABY 

flaxseed or anything of that nature. This is 
really a hot antiseptic fomentation. 

Boracic Acid Solution. 

(2 teaspoonfuls of powder to pint of water.) 

Ice Poultice. 

Fill a bag of india rubber with small pieces 
of ice, and hold in place if necessary with binder. 
This should only be used by physician's order. 



THE END 



JUL 31 1912 



